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Abstract Plant Growth Promoting Rhizobacteria (PGPR) influence plant growth by a number of direct (producing plant growth promoting substances) and indirect (through prevention of deleterious effects of phytopathogenic microorganisms) mechanisms. Five species of bacteria were isolated from rhizospheric soils of soybean and peanut fields from several locations in North Sumatra. On the basis of morphological and biochemical characteristics, the bacteria were identified as Aeromonas hydrophila, Burkholderia cepacia, Serratia ficaria, Pantoea spp. 2, and Vibrio alginolyticus. These species were tested in vitro against the causal pathogen of collar rot disease of soybean, Athelia rolfsii, which is an important soybean disease in Indonesia. The five species of bacteria were subjected to screening of antagonistic activities against A. rolfsii in vitro with a dual culture-technique. Of the five species, B. cepacia, S. ficaria and V. alginolyticus were the most effective antagonistic bacteria to control A. rolfsii. B. cepacia, S. ficaria and V. algynolitycus produced inhibiting zones against A. rolfsii of 98.35%, 97.83% and 96.97% respectively. All bacterial species showed their antagonistic activity significantly with the inhibiting zone percentage being more than 60%. The experimental results suggested that all bacterial species have a future potency as a biocontrol agent to reduce A. rolfsii collar rot disease of soybean
Safni et al. (Wed,) studied this question.