Abstract

RUIZ-SANCHEZ, Esaú et al. Antagonistic activity of Bacillus subtilis vs Colletotrichum gloeosporioides (Penz.). Rev. Mex. Cienc. Agríc [online]. 2014, vol.5, n.7, pp.1325-1332. ISSN 2007-0934.

Colletotrichum gloeosporioides is a phytopathogenic fungus that causes considerable losses in tropical fruits, mainly for producing leaf blights and fruit rots in postharvest. Bacteria of the genus Bacillus are an alternative for the management of diseases caused by this fungus. The aim of this study was to evaluate the antagonistic activity in direct comparison tests and using the culture B. subtilis, native of south-eastern Mexico. For antagonist testing, pathogen direct confrontation, Bacillus strains showed growth inhibition ability of C. gloeosporioides from 62 and 80%, with inhibition zones of 0.20 to 0.88 cm. With the bacterial culture treated with heat, it was observed that all Bacillus strains inhibited the growth of C. gloeosporioides from 13 to 42%, and inhibition halos were observed from 0.13 to 0.26 cm. Bacterial culture of five isolates had inhibition effect on the germination of conidia, the CBCC2 strain caused 70% inhibition. Strains CBCC2, CBRF24, CBCK47 and CBMN22 had inhibitory activity, both in direct confrontation as in the evaluation of bacterial culture, indicating the potential of these strains in the management of C. gloeosporioides.

Keywords : Bacillus subtilis; Colletotrichum gloeosporioides; antagonism; inhibition halos.