Search Results (4)

Pear ring rot caused by Botryosphaeria dothidea severely affects the quality and storage life of pear fruit. Plant endophytes are potential new sources of biocontrol agents due to their abilities to produce novel bioactive products. In this work, we focused on an endophytic strain B1, which was isolated from roots of Dendrobium huoshanense. Notably, strain B1 exhibited strongly inhibitory effects against the growth of Botryosphaeria dothidea with an inhibition rate of 73.2% after 1 week of co-cultivation. Furthermore, it displayed a broad-spectrum inhibitory activity. Strain B1 also effectively delayed the onset of ring rot caused by B. dothidea in pear fruit and reduced the lesion diameter by 73.4%. Strain B1 was identified as Bacillus velezensis based on core-genome phylogeny. Genome mining with antiSMASH revealed 13 potential gene clusters involved in antimicrobial metabolites. Three main groups of lipopeptides (surfactin, iturin and fengycin) were identified with MALDI-TOF-MS, and the lipopeptides in the inhibition zone were greatly upregulated by B. dothidea; especially, fengycin isoforms were detected with higher abundance. These results proved that lipopeptides produced by strain B1 had significant antagonistic effect on B. dothidea. In conclusion, our results suggest that strain B1 has potential applications in the biocontrol of B. dothidea in postharvest fruit. Full article

Pests represent a huge problem in crop production causing significant losses. Currently, biocontrol is utilized as an eco-friendly approach for controlling pests and reducing the shortage in crop production. In the current study, the production of a biocontrol agent, which was identified based on sequencing of the 16S rRNA gene as Bacillusvelezensis strain GB1 with GenBank accession No. OM836750, was carried out in the stirred tank bioreactor using a batch fermentation process. For the first time, B. velezensis strain GB1 was tested as a biocontrol agent with soil drench application (10⁹ cfu mL⁻¹) for management of Bemisia tabaci and induction of squash plant systemic resistance under greenhouse conditions. β-1,3-glucanase, chitinase, polyphenol oxidase, and peroxidase activity were measured in squash leaves at 24, 48, 72, 96, and 120 h. The influence of B. velezensis strain GB1 on population density, fertility, and hatchability of B. tabaci on squash plants was studied. The batch fermentation process of B. velezensis strain GB1 maximized the production of secondary metabolites and culture biomass, which reached a maximum value of 3.8 g L⁻¹ at 10.5 h with a yield coefficient of 0.65 g cells/g glucose. Treatment with B. velezensis strain GB1 induced squash plants to boost their levels of β-1,3-glucanase, chitinase, polyphenol oxidase, and peroxidase enzymes. On the other hand, B. velezensis strain GB1 could significantly reduce the mean number of the attracted B. tabaci on squash plants. Additionally, whiteflies laid a lower mean number of 2.28 eggs/female/day on squash plants inoculated with B. velezensis strain GB1 compared to control. The percentage of B. tabaci egg hatchability declined by 5.7% in the B. velezensis-inoculated squash plants. Full article

In this study, plant-root-associated Bacillus species were evaluated as antifungal biocontrol agents by analyzing the production of surface bioactive molecules known as lipopeptide biosurfactants. This study aimed to isolate and characterize antifungal biosurfactant-producing Bacillus bacterium. Bacillusvelezensis PW192 was isolated from the rhizosphere of Lagerstroemia macrocarpa var macrocarpa and identified based on phylogenetic analysis of the 16S rRNA gene. The biosurfactant was excreted to cultured supernatant and exhibited emulsification power up to 60% and a decrease in surface tension from 72 in distilled water to 21 mN/m. The surface tension properties were stable in a broad range of pH from 6 to 10, in high temperatures up to 100 °C, and in salinities with a NaCl concentration up to 12% (w/v). Starting from 0.5 mg of acid, precipitated crude biosurfactant exhibited antifungal activity toward Anthracnose, caused by the phytopathogens Colletotrichum gloeosporioides and C. musae. The chemical structures of the biosurfactant were structurally characterized as lipopeptides fengycin A and fengycin B. The stability of the biosurfactant, as well as the antifungal properties of B. velezensis PW192, can potentially make them useful as agricultural biocontrol agents, as well as in other biotechnological applications. Full article

Meloidogyne incognita Kofoid et White is one of the most dangerous root-knot nematodes in greenhouses. In this study, we evaluated two Bacillus strains (Bacillus velezensis BZR 86 and Bacillus velezensis BZR 277) as promising microbiological agents for protecting cucumber plants from the root-knot nematode M. incognita Kof. The morphological and cultural characteristics and enzymatic activity of the strains have been studied and the optimal conditions for its cultivation have been developed. We have shown the nematicidal activity of these strains against M. incognita. Experiments with the cucumber variety Courage were conducted under greenhouse conditions in 2016–2018. We determined the effect of plant damage with M. incognita to plants on the biometric parameters of underground and aboveground parts of cucumber plants, as well as on the gall formation index and yield. It was found that the treatment of plants with Bacillus strains contributed to an increase in the height of cucumber plants by 7.4–43.1%, an increase in leaf area by 2.7–17.8%, and an increase in root mass by 3.2–16.1% compared with the control plants without treatment. The application of these strains was proved to contribute to an increase in yield by 4.6–45.8% compared to control. Our experiments suggest that the treatment of cucumber plants with two Bacillus strains improved plant health and crop productivity in the greenhouse. B. velezensis BZR 86 and B. velezensis BZR 277 may form the basis for bionematicides to protect cucumber plants from the root-knot nematode M. incognita. Full article