In vitro and seedling screening demonstrates antagonistic activity of native Bacillus isolates against Fusarium oxysporum in tomato, suggesting viable biocontrol options.
Key Points
To identify native rhizospheric soil bacteria capable of biocontrol against Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. radicis-lycopersici causing crown and root rot in tomato crops.
Collected and homogenized 5 tomato rhizospheric soil samples from Sinaloa, Mexico, to isolate and culture a biobank of 705 bacterial strains.
Screened 254 bacterial isolates in vitro for growth inhibition against F. oxysporum f. sp. radicis-lycopersici and identified antagonistic strains via 16S rDNA sequencing.
Assessed functional traits and evaluated the leading antagonistic candidates on tomato seedlings to measure disease suppression.
Identified 27 bacterial isolates displaying in vitro fungal growth inhibition from 5% to 60%, with 26 isolates belonging to the genus Bacillus and one to Acinetobacter.
Demonstrated superior seedling antagonism against Fusarium crown and root rot using Bacillus subtilis isolates 144 and 151 and Bacillus cereus isolate 171.
Observed partial hemolytic activity among antagonistic strains, highlighting the need for biosafety validation before greenhouse or field deployment.
Cite This Study
Cordero‐Ramírez et al. (2013) studied this question.