• Korean Journal of Organic Agriculture
• /
• v.19 no.spc
• /
• pp.263-266
• /
• 2011

Crop protection strategies in organic horticulture aim to prevent insect pest and plant disease problems through utilization of non-chemical based control means. In order to develop a model for management of plant diseases and insects in organic cucumber cultivation, we compared efficacies between chemical pesticide spraying system and biological control means in semi-forcing and retarding cucumber cultivation during 2005 and 2006. Conventional chemical spray program using various chemical pesticides was applied 5 - 10 days intervals, while two different non-chemical pesticide application programs using two formulated biopesticides Topseed$^{TM}$ and Q-fect$^{TM}$, Suncho$^{TM}$, and Sangsungje$^{TM}$ (biocontrol agents 1) and using egg-yolk and cooking oil(EYCO), Bordeaux mixture, Suncho$^{TM}$, and Sangsungje$^{TM}$ (biocontrol agents 2) were applied 5 - 7 days intervals during entire cucumber cultivation period. Efficacy of both biocontrol agents programs was effective to comparable to conventional chemical pesitice spray program to control plant diseases such as powdery mildew and downy mildew as well as insect pests such as aphids and thrips which are known as major threats in cucumber organic cultivation. In this study, we established and evaluated an effective and economic crop protection strategy using various biological resources can be used to control plant diseases and pests simultaneously in organic cucumber cultivation field.

• The Plant Pathology Journal
• /
• v.37 no.6
• /
• pp.580-595
• /
• 2021

Although late blight is an important disease in ecofriendly potato cultivation in Korea, it is highly dependent on the use of eco-friendly agricultural materials and the development of biological control technology is low. It is a necessary to develop an effective biocontrol agent to inactivate late blight in the field. AFB2-2 strain is a gram-positive with peritrichous flagella. It can utilize 20 types of carbon sources, like L-arabinose, and D-trehalose at 35℃. The optimal growth temperature of the strain is 37℃. It can survive at 20-50℃ in tryptic soy broth. The maximum salt concentration tolerated by AFB2-2 strain is 7.5% NaCl. AFB2-2 strain inhibited the mycelial growth of seven plant pathogens by an average inhibitory zone of 10.2 mm or more. Among the concentrations of AFB2-2, 10⁷ cfu/ml showed the highest control value of 85.7% in the greenhouse. Among the three concentrations of AFB2-2, the disease incidence and severity of potato late blight at 10⁷ cfu/ml was lowest at 0.07 and 6.7, respectively. The nucleotide sequences of AFB2-2 strain were searched in the NCBI GenBank; Bacillus siamensis strain KCTC 13613, Bacillus velezensis strain CR-502, and Bacillus amyloliquefaciens strain DSM7 were found to have a genetic similarity of 99.7%, 99.7%, and 99.5%, respectively. The AFB2-2 strain was found to harbor the biosynthetic genes for bacillomycin D, iturin, and surfactin. Obtained data recommended that the B. velezensis AFB2-2 strain could be considered as a promising biocontrol agent for P. infestans in the field.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
• /
• v.25 no.1
• /
• pp.30-36
• /
• 1997

To genetically breed powerful multifunctional antagonistic bacteria, the urease gene of alkalophilic Bacillus pasteurii was transferred into Bacillus subtilis YB-70 which had been selected as a powerful biocontrol agent against root-rotting fungus Fusarium solani. Urease gene was inserted into the HindIII site of pGB215-110 and designated pGU266. The plasmid pGU266 containing urease gene was introduced into the B. subtilis YB-70 by alkali cation transformation system and the urease gene was very stably expressed in the transformant of B. subtilis YB-70(pGU266). The optimal conditions for the transfomation were also evaluated. From the in vitro antibiosis tests against F. solani, the antifungal activity of B. subtilis YB-70 containing urease gene was much efficient than that of the non-transformed strain. Genetic improvement of B. subtilis YB-70 by transfer of urease gene for the efficient control seemed to be responsible for enhanced plant growth and biocontrol efficacy by combining its astibiotic action and ammonia producing ability.

• The Plant Pathology Journal
• /
• v.23 no.2
• /
• pp.109-112
• /
• 2007

This study was to examine the efficacy of a root-dipping application of antagonistic bacterial strains for the control of Phytophthora blight of pepper caused by P. capcisi, and to evaluate their plant growth-promoting effects in the field in 2005 and 2006. The candidate antagonistic rhizobacterial strains CCR04, CCR80, GSE09, ISE13, and ISE14 were treated by dipping plant roots with bacterial suspensions prior to transplanting. The candidate rhizobacterial strains CCR04, CCR80, GSE09, and ISE14 significantly (P=0.05) reduced the disease incidence and the area under the disease progress curves when compared to buffer-treated controls in at least a year test. The metalaxy l(fungicide-treated control) resulted in one of the lowest disease incidences among the treatments in both years. Moreover, the strains CCR04, CCR80, GSE09, and ISE13 significantly (P=0.05) increased the fruit weights and/or numbers of peppers in at least a year test compared to the buffer-treated controls. These results suggest that the antagonistic rhizobacterial strains CCR04, CCR80, and GSE09 could be efficient biocontrol agents by controlling Phytophthora blight of pepper and promoting the plant growth when treated with root-dipping at transplanting.

• The Plant Pathology Journal
• /
• v.20 no.4
• /
• pp.271-276
• /
• 2004

To examine the control effect of damping-off on radish caused by Pythium spp., researchers used the isolates of a fungivorous nematode, Aphelenchus avenae, and antagonistic fungi, Trichoderma spp. These were used as biocontrol agents, either alone, or in combination. Growth rates of the A. avenae isolates and fungal damages by the nematodes varied depending on Trichoderma spp., which contained lower T. koningii and T. virens cultures than other Trichoderma cultures. Phythium spp. were damaged by all five Aphelenchus isolates, but the multiplication rate of nematode isolate Aa-3 was very poor. Antibiotic activity of T. virens and T. harzianum to Pythium spp. was stronger than that of T. koningii. Control efficacy against damping-off of radish was most enhanced under the treatment using the nematode-T. harzianum combination. On the contrary, the combinations of the nematodes and T. virens or T. koningii mostly did not increase or decreased their control effect vis-$\`{a}$-vis that of the nematodes or antagonistic fungi being used alone. The results suggest that the fungivorous nematodes may play a leading role in the disease control, and that the activity of the fungivorous nematodes may be activated by T. harzianum, but inhibited by T. koningii and T.virens.

• The Plant Pathology Journal
• /
• v.24 no.2
• /
• pp.164-170
• /
• 2008

Carbon utilization by Chryseobacterium strain KJ1R5 was studied to enhance its biocontrol activity against Phytophthora capsid. Chryseobacterium strain KJ1R5 has previously been shown to control Phytophthora blight of pepper (Capsicum annuum L.). Strain KJ1R5 could utilize carbon sources such as L-arabinose, D-cellobiose, ${\beta}-lactose$ and D-galactose well. P. capsici could utilize D-glucose well, showing the absorbencies ranged from 0.577 to 0.767 at 600nm. When 2% L-arabinose, which could only be utilized by the bio-control strain KJ1R5, was amended into the bacterial suspension, the efficacy of biological control increased. Among the amendments of various carbon sources into bacterial suspension, L-arabinose and D-(+)-glucose significantly enhanced biological control activity, resulting in a reduction of disease incidence to 6.9%, compared to 21.9% for the strain KJ1R5 alone and 81.3% for P. capsici inoculation alone, indicating that amendment with specific carbon sources could increase the biological control activity.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
• /
• v.17 no.3
• /
• pp.474-480
• /
• 2007

Fusarium wilt of cucumbers was effectively controlled by Escherichia coli expressing an endochitinase gene (chiA), and the rate was as effective (60.0%) as the wild-type strain S. proteamaculans 3095 (55.0%) where the gene was cloned. However, live cells of soil inoculated E. coli host harboring the chiA gene did not proliferate but declined 100-fold from $10^8$ CFU during the first week and showed less than 10 cells after day 14, suggesting that E. coli was able to express and produce the chitinase enzyme to the soil even as the population was gradually decreasing. Because the majority of the strains was alive for only a short period of time and the Fusarium-affected seedlings showed symptoms of wilting within 7-10 days, it seems that the pathogen control was decided early after the introduction of the biocontrol agent, eliminating the survival of the antagonist. These results indicated that soil inoculated E. coli could sufficiently express and produce the recombinant protein to control the pathogen, and root or soil colonization of the antagonist might not be a significant factor in determining the efficacy of biological control.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
• /
• v.23 no.2
• /
• pp.236-242
• /
• 1995

Biological control of soilborne plant pathogens by the addition of antagonistic microorganisms to the soil may offer a practical supplement or alternative to existing disease management strategies that depend heavily on chemical pesticides. Soil amendment with antagonistic microbes was non-effective because of high cost, low efficacy, and inconvenient usage on the treatment course. Therefore, seed coating formulation for the application of biological seed treatments has been being to apply successful disease suppression for many important crops. The objectives of this study were to investigate the optimal condition for the spore production of biocontrol agent Bacillus subtilis YBL-7 and the liquid coating formulation that contained a suspension of a proper aqueous binder, as well as a ground fine solid particulate material. The maximum yield has been obtained from 60 hrs-old culture at 30$\circ$C in spore forming (SF) medium containing 0.8% nutrient broth, 0.05% yeast extract, 10$^{-1}$ M MgCl$^{2}$, 10$^{-4}$ M MnCl$^{2}$, 10$^{-5}$ M dipicolinic acid, and pH 6.5. The optimal condition of dried spore preparation was achieved when cells of B. subtilis YBL-7 was heat-dried with 50$\circ$C for 2 hrs.

• Weed & Turfgrass Science
• /
• v.2 no.2
• /
• pp.202-206
• /
• 2013

Biocontrol potential of an isolate of Helicosporium spp. against Rhizoctonia solani, Fusarium oxysporium and Phytophthora drechsleri was evaluated in vitro and in vivo. A selected biocontrol agent designated as Helicosporium 0635BP strongly inhibited growth and lysed mycelium of Rhizoctonia solani and Fusarium oxysporium on PDA. Autoclaved culture filtrate of the agent also completely inhibited growth of the turfgrass large patch pathogen, R. solani AG2-2 IV at the concentration of 50 ml $L^{-1}$. The pathogen was killed when dipped under the 20% filtrate for four hours or 50% for one hr. In a field trial, plots applied with the crude or times diluted culture filtrate showed 100% control efficacy of the turfgrass large patch as a chemical applied for a comparison. Results indicated that Helicosporium 0635BP is a promising biocontrol agent on control of the turfgrass large patch disease and its culture filtrate contained unknown heat suitable antifungal substance (s). Further studies on mass production, purification and identification of the unknown compound (s) are in progress for practical use.

• The Plant Pathology Journal
• /
• v.35 no.4
• /
• pp.341-350
• /
• 2019

Streptomyces padanus PMS-702 strain produces a polyene macrolide antibiotic fungichromin and displays antagonistic activities against many phytopathogenic fungi. In the present study, experimental formulations were assessed to improve the production of fungichromin, the efficacy of PMS-702 on the suppression of sporangial germination, and the reduction of cucumber downy mildew caused by Pseudoperonospora cubensis. PMS-702 strain cultured in a soybean meal-glucose (SMG) medium led to low levels of fungichromin accumulation and sporangial germination suppression. Increasing medium compositions and adding plant oils (noticeably coconut oil) in SMG significantly increased fungichromin production from 68 to $1,999.6{\mu}g/ml$. Microscopic examination reveals that the resultant suspensions significantly reduced sporangial germination and caused cytoplasmic aggregation. Greenhouse trials reveal that the application of PMS-702 cultural suspensions reduced downy mildew severity considerably. The addition of Tween 80 into the synthetic medium while culturing PMS-702 further increased the suppressive efficacy of downy mildew severity, particularly when applied at 24 h before inoculation or co-applied with inoculum. Fungichromin at $50{\mu}g/ml$ induced phytotoxicity showing minor necrosis surrounded with light yellowish halos on cucumber leaves. The concentration that leads to 90% inhibition (IC90) of sporangial germination was estimated to be around $10{\mu}g/ml$. The results provide a strong possibility of using the S. padanus PMS-702 strain as a biocontrol agent to control other plant pathogens.