Antifungal Compounds of Plant Growth-Promoting Bacillus Species

Abstract

Fungal pathogens are one of the major threats to global food safety and security. Chemical fungicides are highly effective and convenient for their management. Unfortunately, indiscriminate use of fungicides poses serious threats on ecosystem as well as on every kind of living organism dwelling on the earth. At present, Bacillus-based biotic stress management emerged as a cheap, economical, and sustainable method for profitable agricultural productivity owing to their prospective antagonistic attribution in the management of plant pathogens. A large number of published research work portrayed the antagonistic features of the Bacillus strains and designated Bacillus genus as a storehouse of diverse types of antifungal compounds of diverse structures, as 5–8% region of the Bacillus genome associated with the biosynthesis of secondary metabolites. Besides this, diverse species of Bacillus strains such as B. subtilis, B. amyloliquefaciens, B. cereus, B. pumilus, and B. thuringiensis have been shown to avert negative influence of pathogen invasion on plants by supressing fungal pathogens via competition for nutrients and ecological space, synthesis of antifungal compounds (lipopeptides, enzymes, and antibiotics), and inducing systemic resistance. Briefly, in this chapter, we discuss the wide array of antifungal compounds produced by Bacillus species, their diversity, and antagonistic attributes for ecological and economical management of fungal pathogens in agricultural crops.