Abstract
A salt tolerant bacterium was isolated from the rhizosphere of tomato grown in saline arid soil of Uzbekistan. 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis indicated that the strain was most closely related to Enterobacter hormaechei with sequence similarities of 99%. The strain utilizes various carbon sources and showed multidrug resistance to various antibiotics. E. hormaechei NUU10 was able to stimulate root and shoot growth of tomato in both non saline and saline soil conditions. The strain was shown to have some PGP activities, such as production of IAA and phosphate solubilization ability that, together or alone, might explain the capacity of this strain to alleviate stress of salt-affected tomato plant. The bacterial isolate was able to survive in soil, rhizosphere and phyllosphere of tomato plant grown under arid, saline soil condition. The results of this study indicated that Enterobacter hormaechei NUU10 has the potential to produce different biological active compounds such as cell wall degrading enzymes, IAA and utilize a wide range of carbohydrates as carbon as energy sources. They may positively effect on plant growth and has the ability to colonize and survive in tomato root grown in saline soils with hot summer temperature.