Evaluation of antagonistic bacteria for the biocontrol of Phomopsis azadirachtae, the die-back of neem pathogen
1K. N. Divyashree and 1,2*K. Girish
1Postgraduate Department of Microbiology, Maharani’s Science College for Women (Autonomous), JLB Road, Mysuru – 570 005 (India) 2Department of Microbiology, Government College for Women (Autonomous), Mandya - 571 401 (India) *Corresponding author e-mail: girishk77@yahoo.com
ABSTRACT
In the current investigation, antagonistic bacteria procured from MTCC, IMTECH, Chandigarh were evaluated for antifungal activity against Phomopsis azadirachtae, the fungus causing die-back of neem by dual culture method. Five bacteria viz., Bacillus amyloliquefaciens, B. cereus, B. subtilis, Erwinia sp. and Pseudomonas aeruginosa exhibited excellent inhibition of the pathogen. Then the ethyl acetate extracts of culture filtrates of these bacteria were screened against P. azadirachtae by poisoned-food method at different concentrations such as 5, 10, 15, 20, 25 and 30 ppm. All the tested bacterial strains completely inhibited P. azadirachtae growth at 20 ppm concentration. These bacteria could be employed for the biocontrol as well as for the integrated management of P. azadirachtae