## 2 Results
### Synthesis of Plant Growth Promoters  
In our study, we intended to present the potential of the isolated microorganisms in the synthesis of plant growth-promoting substances, which is very poorly recognized in the case of _A. filiculoides_. Consequently, the levels of IAA, cellulase and protease activities, utilization of P, and production of siderophores were determined. To this end, we selected one representative of each identified genera, i.e., 6 epiphytes and 4 endophytes. The quantification of IAA synthesis revealed 3 promising strains: _Microococcus_ sp. AzoEndo14, _Delftia_ sp. AzoEpi7, and _Agrobacteriumium_ sp. AzoEpi25. The first one produced the highest amounts of auxin (17.9 \(\upmu\)g\(\cdot\)mL\({}^{-1}\)); in turn, the other two yielded 3.575 and 6.39 \(\upmu\)g\(\cdot\)mL\({}^{-1}\) of the compound, respectively (Table 4). To assess the capability of the microorganisms of lysis of the pathogen cell wall, we assayed cellulase and protease activities. Importantly, a positive reaction was recorded in all the isolates studied (Table 4). The diameter of the halo after cellulose decomposition ranged from 0.23-1.5 cm. The endophytes were characterized by stronger cellulase activity; we observed zones from 0.98 (_Staphylococcus_ sp. AzoEndo11) to 1.5 cm (_Microococcus_ sp. AzoEndo14). It was demonstrated that the halo was lower by 20% only for _Acinetobacter_ sp. AzoEndo8 in comparison to the colony diameter. The zone in the other 3 isolates was by 5-19% higher than the size of developed colonies. In the case of the epiphytes, the lowest activity was noted for _Delftia_ sp. AzoEpi7 (0.23 cm) and the highest value of 1.03 cm was found for _Achromobacter_ sp. AzoEpi1. We noticed that _Achromobacter_ sp. AzoEpi1, _Bacillus_ sp. AzoEpi2, and _Delftia_ AzoEpi7 developed smaller halos in relation to their colonies, i.e., with the h\(\alpha\) ratios of 0.67, 0.47, and 0.27, respectively. The other three, i.e., _Alcaligenes_ sp. AzoEpi21, _Microbacterium_ sp. AzoEpi23, \begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c c c c c} \hline \hline \multirow{2}{*}{**Isolate (Genera)**} & \multirow{2}{*}{**IAA (ug mL\({}^{-1}\))**} & \multicolumn{2}{c}{**Cellulose Activity**} & \multicolumn{2}{c}{**Protease Activity**} \\ \cline{3-6}  & & **h \({}^{1}\) (cm)** & **h\(c\) 2** & **h (cm)** & **h\(c\)** \\ \hline _Staphylococcus_ sp. AzoEndo11 & n/a 3 & 0.98 (0.25) & 1.19 (0.33) & 1.25 (0.21) & 0.45 (0.23) \\ \hline _Microoccus_ sp. AzoEndo14 & 17.900 (0.201) & 1.50 (0.14) & 1.05 (0.25) & 1.00 (0.19) & 0.31 (0.08) \\ _Bacillus_ sp. AzoEndo3 & n/a & 1.06 (0.20) & 1.06 (0.05) & 1.76 (0.36) & 1.01 (0.89) \\ _Acinetobacter_ sp. AzoEndo8 & n/a & 1.20 (0.00) & 0.80 (0.00) & 1.32 (0.34) & 0.58 (0.19) \\ \hline _Achromobacter_ sp. AzoEpi1 & n/a & 1.03 (0.13) & 0.67 (0.08) & 1.22 (0.19) & 0.40 (0.09) \\ _Bacillus_ sp. AzoEpi2 & n/a & 0.80 (0.08) & 0.47 (0.07) & 1.10 (0.19) & 0.28 (0.15) \\ _Delftia_ sp. AzoEpi7 & 3.575 (0.029) & 0.23 (0.13) & 0.27 (0.17) & 1.12 (0.26) & 0.41 (0.18) \\ _Acaligenes_ sp. AzoEpi21 & n/a & 6.5 (0.06) & 1.20 (0.23) & 1.57 (0.31) & 0.45 (0.18) \\ _Microbacterium_ sp. AzoEpi23 & n/a & 0.50 (0.08) & 1.20 (0.29) & 1.33 (0.34) & 0.78 (0.35) \\ _Agrobacteriumium_ sp. AzoEpi25 & 6.390 (0.053) & 0.68 (0.15) & 1.33 (0.47) & 2.95 (0.28) & 1.10 (0.33) \\ \hline \hline \end{tabular}  
* \({}^{1}\) h—halo size; \({}^{2}\) hc—halo-to-colony size ratio; \({}^{3}\) n/a—no positive reaction.  
\end{table} 
Table 4: Levels of IAA as well as cellulase and protease activities of the isolates studied (means \(\pm\) SD). and _Agrobacteriumium_ sp. AzoEpi25, formed halos that were larger by 20-33% (Table 4). Protein substrate consumption was indicated by halos larger than 1 cm in all samples. The endophytic _Microoccus_ sp. AzoEndo14 generated the smallest zone (1 cm), which was 69% smaller than that of the colonies. _Bacillus_ sp. AzoEndo3, in contrast, developed the biggest zone of 1.76 cm (1% bigger than that of the colonies). However, the epiphytic _Bacillus_ sp.