<i>Streptomyces</i> sp. as plant growth-promoters and host-plant resistance inducers against <i>Botrytis cinerea</i> in chickpea VijayabharathiRajendran GopalakrishnanSubramaniam SathyaArumugam KumarMandla Vasanth SrinivasVadlamudi MamtaSharma 2018 <p>Two hundred and fifty seven actinobacteria, isolated from five different rhizosphere soils of chickpea, were evaluated for their antagonistic potential against <i>Botrytis cinerea</i>, causal agent of <i>Botrytis</i> grey mold (BGM) disease in chickpea, by dual culture assay. Of them, three most promising isolates (ATIRS43, ATIRS65 and ARRS10) with highest inhibitory activity (67–77%) were identified as <i>Streptomyces</i> sp. These selected isolates induced growth of chickpea genotype JG11 as a consortium rather than an individual inoculum. Co-inoculation of the selected <i>Streptomyces</i> sp. with <i>Mesorhizobium ciceri</i> UPM-Ca7<sup>T</sup> enhanced nodulation and nitrogenase activity in five chickpea genotypes (ICCV2, ICCV10, ICC4958, Annigeri and JG11). The selected <i>Streptomyces</i> sp. significantly reduced the disease incidence caused by <i>B. cinerea</i> by 28–47% over the un-inoculated control across the chickpea genotypes ICC4954 (susceptible), ICCV05530 (moderately resistant) and JG11 (unknown resistance). The <i>Streptomyces</i> sp. were also able to induce host-plant resistance, irrespective of the genotype, through the induction of various antioxidant enzymes and phenolics. Phenolic profiling of <i>B. cinerea-</i>affected and <i>Streptomyces</i> treated plants of ICCV05530 further confirmed host-plant resistance traits. This study indicated that the selected <i>Streptomyces</i> sp. have the potential for biological control of BGM disease in chickpea.</p>