Biocontrol Characteristics of Bacillus Species in Suppressing Stem Rot of Grafted Cactus Caused by Bipolaris Cactivora
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Plant Pathol. J. 29(1) : 42-51 (2013) http://dx.doi.org/10.5423/PPJ.OA.07.2012.0116 The Plant Pathology Journal pISSN 1598-2254 eISSN 2093-9280 © The Korean Society of Plant Pathology Open Access Biocontrol Characteristics of Bacillus Species in Suppressing Stem Rot of Grafted Cactus Caused by Bipolaris cactivora Sooil Bae, Sang Gyu Kim and Young Ho Kim* Department of Agricultural Biotechnology, Seoul National University, Seoul 151-921, Korea (Received on July 26, 2012; Revised on October 10, 2012; Accepted on October 10, 2012) One of the most important limiting factors for the pro- cactus composed of two cactus species, a photosynthetic duction of the grafted cactus in Korea is the qualitative stock and an esthetically-valued scion, is an ornamental and quantitative yield loss derived from stem rots plant, which is produced most abundantly in Korea, especially caused by Bipolaris cactivora. This study is comprising about 70% of the world trading market (Song et aimed to develop microbial control agents useful for the al., 2009a, 2009b). The cultivation area of cacti in Korea control of the bipolaris stem rot. Two bacteria (GA1-23 was 38.3 ha in 1990, increased to 50.2 ha in 2000, and and GA4-4) selected out of 943 microbial isolates because reached 73.7 ha, with a production of 29 million plants in of their strong antibiotic activity against B. cactivora were identified as Bacillus subtilis and B. amylolique- 2004 (Jeong et al., 2004). faciens The grafted cactus is cultivated in a greenhouse with , respectively, by the cultural characteristics, Biolog o program and 16S rRNA sequencing analyses. Both warm temperature (15−34 C) and humid conditions during bacterial isolates significantly inhibited the conidial all growing seasons, and thus, a variety of diseases caused germination and mycelial growth of the pathogen with by fungi, bacteria and viruses are found in the cactus farms no significant difference between the two, of which the (Chang et al., 1998; Chase, 1982; Choi et al., 2010b; inhibitory efficacies varied depending on the cultural Durbin et al., 1955; Hyun et al., 2001; Kim et al., 2000a; conditions such as temperature, nutritional compositions Kim et al., 2000b; Kim et al., 2007; Liou et al., 2001). and concentrations. Light and electron microscopy of Especially, bipolaris stem rot caused by B. cactivora is one the pathogen treated with the bacterial isolates showed of the most important diseases in cactus farms, sometimes the inhibition of spore germination with initial mal- devastating a large area of the cactus plantations, so that it formation of germ tubes and later formation of circle- like vesicles with no hyphal growth and hyphal disrup- should be controlled properly to secure the production of tion sometimes accompanied by hyphal swellings and quality grafted cactus. shrinkages adjacent to the bacteria, suggesting their Stem rots caused by fungal pathogens including B. cacti- antibiotic mode of antagonistic activity. Control efficacy vora are commonly controlled by chemical fungicides. of B. subtilis GA1-23 and B. amyloliquefaciens GA4-4 on However, the fungicides are toxic to be harmful to humans the cactus stem rot were not as high as but comparable and animals, sometimes adversely affecting on the non-target to that of fungicide difenoconazole when they were treat- beneficial organisms and causing environmental pollutions. ed simultaneously at the time of pathogen inoculation. Hence, it is necessary to develop other control measures All of these results suggest the two bacterial isolates using safe and eco-friendly biocontrol agents that can sub- have a good potential to be developed as biocontrol stitute for synthetic fungicides for the practical control of agents for the bipolaris stem rot of the grafted cactus. the diseases in farms. Keywords : Bacillus species, biocontrol, Bipolaris cactivora, In recent years, biotic or abiotic factors such as sider- bipolaris stem rot, grafted cactus ophores, antibiotics, volatile compounds, HCN, enzymes, phytohormones, neem oil, and commercial xanthan gum have been used as biological control agents (Castro and The Cactaceae are mostly spiny succulents with photosyn- Bach, 2004; Solemani et al., 2005). However, biological thetic stems comprising 200 genera and more than 2,000 control using antagonistic microorganisms is one of the species (Min et al., 2006). More than 300 species of cacti important alternatives to the fungicidal use and provides an are cultivated as ornamentals (Anderson, 2001). The grafted ecology-based approach for the integrated pest management in sustainable agriculture in crop production systems (Lee *Corresponding author. et al., 2006). Previous studies on biocontrol agents include Phone) +82-2-880-4675,FAX) +82-2-873-2317 the effects of foliar and root applications of Lysobacter E-mail) [email protected] enzymogenes strain C3 in the suppression of conidial Biocontrol of Cactus Bipolaris Stem Rot by Bacillus 43 germination and leaf spot development after pathogen liquid medium, 1 ml of B. cactivora conidial suspension inoculation (Kilic-Ekici and Yuen, 2004). Fluorescent Pseudo- (1.0 × 107 conidia/ml) grown on V8 juice agar for 10 days monas and Bacillus spp. not only reduce the incidence and was mixed with 1 ml of each bacterial suspension (1.0 × 108 severity of the disease, comparing with the control, but also CFU/ml) that was grown on BHI broth at 28 oC for 48 h influence positively on the growth and yield of wheat with shaking at 200 rpm. BHI broth was used as control. cultivars (Solemani et al., 2005). Therefore, in this study, Two ml of these mixtures were suspended in 250 ml of experiments were conducted to control bipolaris stem rot potato-dextrose broth (PDB) (CONDA, Madrid, Spain) and caused by B. cactivora using antifungal microorganisms incubated 25 oC for 9 h with shaking at 200 rpm. The spore especially Bacillus species. Optimal conditions for their germination in 1 ml of each suspension was examined treatment were evaluated by in vitro and in vivo experi- under a compound light microscope at intervals of 3 h after mentations. Also biocontrol mechanisms of the Bacillus inoculation with 5 replications based on the spore germina- species were examined by light and scanning electron tion to be determined by the germ tube length 1.5 times microscopy (SEM). longer than the spore length. For solid media, 500 µl conidial suspension of B. cacti- Materials and Methods vora (1.0 × 107 conidia/ml) grown on V8 juice agar for 10 days was mixed with 500 µl of each bacterial suspension Pathogen and in vitro screening of antifungal bacteria (1.0 × 108 cfu/ml) that was grown on BHI broth at 28 oC for against B. cactivora. An isolate of B. cactivora, CC1-5 that 48 h with shaking at 200 rpm. BHI was used as the has been used in the previous study (Choi et al., 2010a) was untreated control. Ten µl of mixtures were spotted on water also used for this study. A total of 943 microbial isolates agar (WA) (as for non-nutritional medium) and PDA (as for were collected during the survey of effective micro- nutritional medium), respectively and incubated at 25 oC in organisms used for the biocontrol of cactus stem rot caused a growth chamber for 9 h. The surface of each medium was by B. cactivora for two years of 2009 and 2010. These examined at intervals of 3 h after inoculation to visualize isolates were screened for antifungal activity against B. the spore germination rates with time on a microscopic cactivora. For this, mycelial discs (7 mm in diameter) of B. view at 400 × magnification with 9 replications based on cactivora CC1-5 cultured on potato-dextrose agar (PDA) the germ tube length over 1.5 × of the spore length. for 7 days were placed in the center of PDA and spotted For evaluation of inhibitory activity of the antifungal with 10 µl of bacterial suspensions grown in brain-heart bacteria on spore germination of B. cactivora at different infusion (BHI) broth at 28 oC for 48 h with shaking at 200 inoculum concentrations of the bacterial isolates, the fungal rpm around the mycelial discs in a distance of 3 cm. After conidia were harvested by scraping the surface of 10-day- incubation for 7 days, the inhibitory activity was measured old fungal cultures grown on V8 juice agar with a spreader for each bacterial isolate as the length of the mycelial and suspended in sterile distilled water followed by filtra- growth of B. cactivora compared to the untreated control. tion through two layers of Mira cloth. Conidial concent- Three replications were used for each treatment. rations were adjusted to 3.0 × 106 conidia/ml using a hema- cytometer. The conidial suspension of B. cactivora (1 ml) Identification of antifungal bacteria. The two bacterial was mixed in 1 l of melted PDA, which was poured to an isolates GA1-23 and GA4-4 with high antifungal activity amount of 15 ml in a petri dish. Sixty µl of each bacterial against B. cactivora were selected for further biocontrol suspension (1.0 × 108 cfu/ml) grown in BHI broth at 28 oC study. These isolates were identified based on cultural and for 2 days with shaking at 200 rpm was spotted on each of physiological characters, and analysis with the Biolog pro- sterile paper discs 8-mm in diameter (ADVANTEC, Japan). gram. To confirm the bacterial identities, 16S rRNA gene The paper discs were placed on the surface of PDA amend- sequences of the bacterial isolates were analyzed using ed with the conidial suspension. After 48 h of incubation, 27mF (5'-AGAGTTTGTTTGATCMTGGCTCAG-3') and the size of an inhibition zone around each paper disc was 1492mR (5'-GGYTACCTTGTTACGACTT-3') primers examined. (Brosius et al., 1978; Weisburg et al., 1991) after 16S rRNA genes were amplified by PCR.