摘要：Endophytic fungi are known to be naturally occurring beneficial partners of plants which resides as good symbiont and established a positive role in plant growth promotion and enhanced resistance against stress. However, little is known about plant growth-promoting endophytes (PGPE) therefore, the aims of this study were to isolate and identify fungal endophytes and to characterize plant growth-promoting (PGP) properties. Endophyte Penicillium chrysogenum T8 was selected from among the isolates for its vital role in promoting growth of tomato seedlings and positive for phosphate solubilization. The isolate was screened positive for indole acetic acid (IAA), siderophore production, hydrogen cyanide production, phenols and flavonoids production and antibacterial activity under in vitro conditions. Endophyte associated tomato seedlings showed higher growth than the control. The results indicated that microbial endophyte isolated and characterized had a considerable impact on plant growth parameters and could be used as inoculants to establish a sustainable crop production system.
