Microbial Biopesticides against Bacterial, Fungal and Oomycete Pathogens of Tomato, Cabbage and Chickpea

Abstract

Biological control is an environmentally friendly approach that holds promise to complement or replace chemicals to effectively protect crop plants against pests and pathogens. Environmental samples with highly diverse and competitive microbiomes that harbor antagonistic microbes with diverse modes-of-action can provide a rich source of microbial biopesticides. In the current study, bacteria isolated from rhizosphere soil and food spoilage samples were subsequently screened against various plant fungal and oomycete pathogens in growth inhibition assays. These included the new potential biocontrol bacteria Corynebacterium flavescens, Sporosarcina aquimarina and Sporosarcina saromensis with anti-fungal and antioomycete activities. Potential candidates selected by preliminary screening in plant assays were then applied to tomato, cabbage and chickpea plants to control bacterial (Pseudomonas syringae pv. tomato), fungal (Alternaria brassicicola) and oomycete (Phytophtora medicaginis) phytopathogens. Ten potential microbial biopesticides were demonstrated to be effective against these diseases, and led to significant (p < 0.05) reductions in symptoms and/or pathogen DNA compared to mock-treated diseased plants. We conclude that new and effective microbial biopesticides to control crop pathogens can be rapidly isolated from biodiverse microbiomes, where bacteria may employ these features to effectively compete against each other.