Antifungal Activity of Serratia marcescens Culture Extracts against Phytopathogenic Fungi: Possibility for the Chitinases Role

Serratia marcescens co-cultured with various phytopathogenic fungi, including Rhizopus stolonifer, Helminthosporium allii, Pyricularia oryzae, Fusarium oxysporium and Collectothricom cassiicola, in an LB- agar medium containing 1.5% swollen chitin, significantly inhibitied fungal growth. Fungal hyphae grew rapidly outward from the culture dish center, but the hyphal extensions of the pathogenic fungi were significantly inhibited in a perimetric contact area with S. marcescens. This was especially evident in pathogenic fungi which have a high chitin content in their cell walls. The extracellular chitinase activities of S. marcescens were increased seven fold by the addition of 1.5% swollen chitin to the LB-broth, compared to chitinase activities in a culture medium without chitin. The type of induction was dependent on the various forms of chitin used. When the culture supernatant of S. marcescens or the chitinases of Streptomyces griceus purchased from Sigma Chemical Co., were incubated with the mycelium of F. oxysporium, the mycelium gradually burst as cultivation time progressed and completely lysed after incubation for 2 days. On the other hand, E. coli extract did not hydrolyze the F. oxysporium mycelium at all. These data showed that the chitinolytic activities of S. marcescens play important roles in the biochemical control of phytopathogenic fungi.