Isolation and selection specific bacteriophage from banana in North Sumatera to biologically control Ralstonia syzygii sub sp. celebesensis in vitro

Abstract

Abstract Blood disease caused by Ralstonia syzygii sub sp. celebesensis (Rsc) has been an important issue affecting the production of banana plants in Indonesia. Various controls used such as bactericides, sanitation, biological agents and male flower transfer have not been able to prevent the development of this disease. Specific bacteriophages that control this pathogen have been developed, however, the study of using bacteriophage isolated and selection from banana in North Sumatera has not been explored. The purpose of this study was to isolate and to select specific bacteriophage from banana in North Sumatera to biologically control Rsc. This research was conducted at the Laboratory of Plant Diseases, Universitas Sumatera Utara from January to June 2020. This experiment was conducted with nonfactorial Complete Randomized Design (CRD) by applying 4 selected bacteriophages and 1 control treatment (Control, ϕBTF1, ϕBTF2, ϕBTF3, BTF4 with four replications. The results showed that three bacteriophages including ϕBTF1, ϕBTF2, and ϕBTF4 replicated using the lytic cycle and decreased the population of Rsc for 24 hours observation. On the contrary, ϕBTF3 had lysogenic replication and kept Rsc alive but changing the pathogen became avirulent.