Herbicidal activity of Aureobasidium pullulans PA-2 on weeds and optimization of its solid-state fermentation conditions

Abstract

Fungal strain PA-2 was isolated from infected poplar leaves from the Ping'an District, Haidong City of Qinghai Province, China. Based on the culture characteristics and the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) sequence of its 16S rDNA, the strain was identified as Aureobasidium pullulans. The culture and metabolites of strain PA-2 showed high herbicidal potential to five tested weeds Galium aparine var. tenerum, Chenopodium album, Malva crispa, Polygonum lapathifolium and Avena fatua. For the in vitro test, 5 days after the detached leaves were inoculated with PA-2 culture, all leaves infected by the hyphae and became black and rotten. For the in vivo test, a metabolite filtrate of PA-2 culture was sprayed over the living weed plants, and five days after inoculation, the weed plants became withered and necrotic. Seven days after inoculation, the fresh weight reductions of G. aparine var. tenerum, C. album, M. crispa, P. lapathifolium and A. fatua were 87.25, 78.46, 82.25, 62.11, and 80.27%, respectively. Galium aparine var. tenerum and M. crispa exhibited significant reductions in fresh weight. The bio-safety test on the five crops showed no significant plant height reductions, which was also observed for wheat (Triticum aestivum), faba bean (Vicia faba), and barley (Hordeum vulgare). By contrast, oilseed rape (Brassica napus) and pea (Pisum sativum) exhibited light spots but no significant reductions in plant height. These results indicated that A. pullulans could be a potential microbial herbicide for the control of the target weeds in crops. Optimization of the carbon and nitrogen sources for cultural media and substances for solid-state fermentation indicated that PA-2 had better colony growth and spore production with the optimal carbon source of glucose (C4), nitrogen source of soybean flour (N2), and the optimal substance was wheat bran. The results in this study provide useful information for the development of A. pulluans PA-2 as an herbicide for bio-control of the weed.