10.22376/ijpbs.2019.10.1.p1-12 Volume 4 Issue 1 2013 (January - March) Six fungal isolates were selected from the rhizosphere of black pepper ( lessThan i greaterThan Piper nigrum lessThan /i greaterThan L.) plants and were tested in vitro for their plant growth promoting (PGP) abilities in the soil. The species of lessThan i greaterThan Aspergillus lessThan /i greaterThan selected were tested for the siderophore production, indole acetic acid (IAA) production, catalase enzyme activity and biological control of pathogens through antagonism. The results indicated high degree of PGP ability in case of lessThan i greaterThan Aspergillus lessThan /i greaterThan lessThan i greaterThan niger lessThan /i greaterThan followed by lessThan i greaterThan A. flavus lessThan /i greaterThan str1 with respect to all parameters. lessThan i greaterThan A.niger lessThan /i greaterThan (12 U mL lessThan sup greaterThan -1 lessThan /sup greaterThan ) and lessThan i greaterThan A lessThan /i greaterThan . lessThan i greaterThan flavus lessThan /i greaterThan str1 (10 U mL lessThan sup greaterThan -1 lessThan /sup greaterThan ) showed higher siderophore production capabilities were able to produce indole acetic acid (IAA) in the range of 710µg mL lessThan sup greaterThan -1 lessThan /sup greaterThan lessThan i greaterThan A. niger lessThan /i greaterThan with a high catalase activity of 55.69 units mL lessThan sup greaterThan -1 lessThan /sup greaterThan exhibited good biocontrol abilities against both lessThan i greaterThan Fusarium equiseticus lessThan /i greaterThan (15.6 mm) and lessThan i greaterThan Mucor lessThan /i greaterThan spp. (11.6 mm) suggesting that lessThan i greaterThan A. niger lessThan /i greaterThan could be considered as a potential plant growth promoting fungi (PGPF). S. USHA AND T. PADMAVATHI Plant growth promoting fungi (PGPF), siderophore, indole acetic acid (IAA), catalase activity, biocontrol, A. niger. 835-846