| Summary: | The aim of the study was to determine the still not completely described microbiome associated with the aquatic fern <i>Azolla filiculoides</i>. During the experiment, 58 microbial isolates (43 epiphytes and 15 endophytes) with different morphologies were obtained. We successfully identified 85% of microorganisms and assigned them to 9 bacterial genera: <i>Achromobacter</i>, <i>Bacillus</i>, <i>Microbacterium</i>, <i>Delftia</i>, <i>Agrobacterium</i>, and <i>Alcaligenes</i> (epiphytes) as well as <i>Bacillus</i>, <i>Staphylococcus</i>, <i>Micrococcus</i>, and <i>Acinetobacter</i> (endophytes). We also studied an <i>A. filiculoides</i> cyanobiont originally classified as <i>Anabaena azollae</i>; however, the analysis of its morphological traits suggests that this should be renamed as <i>Trichormus azollae</i>. Finally, the potential of the representatives of the identified microbial genera to synthesize plant growth-promoting substances such as indole-3-acetic acid (IAA), cellulase and protease enzymes, siderophores and phosphorus (P) and their potential of utilization thereof were checked. <i>Delftia</i> sp. AzoEpi7 was the only one from all the identified genera exhibiting the ability to synthesize all the studied growth promoters; thus, it was recommended as the most beneficial bacteria in the studied microbiome. The other three potentially advantageous isolates (<i>Micrococcus</i> sp. AzoEndo14, <i>Agrobacterium</i> sp. AzoEpi25 and <i>Bacillus</i> sp. AzoEndo3) displayed 5 parameters: IAA (excluding <i>Bacillus</i> sp. AzoEndo3), cellulase, protease, siderophores (excluding <i>Micrococcus</i> sp. AzoEndo14), as well as mineralization and solubilization of P (excluding <i>Agrobacterium</i> sp. AzoEpi25).
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