Selection and Assessment of Plant Growth-Promoting Rhizobacteria for Biocontrol of Multiple Plant Diseases

The overall aim of this study was to screen a large number of spore-forming bacilli PGPR strains for their broad-spectrum biocontrol activity. The specific objectives were to: 1) screen 196 PGPR strains in vitro for phenotypes reported to be related to biological control of multiple plant diseases and multiple traits related to growth promotion, 2) select individual PGPR strains in vivo for biological control of multiple plant diseases, and 3) predict the secondary metabolites contributing to the biocontrol phenotype in selected PGPR strains from objective 2.