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Two strains of rice-associated pseudomonads Pseudomonas fluorescens 7-14 and P. putida V14i caused an induced systemic resistance (ISR) in three cultivars of rice. ISR response coincided with increased levels of salicylic acid and biological suppression (25%) of rice blast disease. When the strains of the bacteria with lacZY molecular marker tracking system were applied to rice seeds as a seed-coat, they persisted on rice roots for entire duration of the crop (110 days) but migrated to the rice shoot only up to 14 to 16 days. Bacteria applied as a root-dip did not migrate to aerial parts of the rice plant. Bacteria infiltrated into the rice stem survived for 20 days after the treatment and were not detected on the surface of the stem. It is suggested that the ISR triggered by these bacteria which were spatially separated from the rice blast pathogen, is an important mechanism for the biological suppression of rice blast.