Inhibitory effects of antagonistic bacteria inhabiting the rhizosphere of the sugarbeet plants, on Cercospora beticola Sacc., the causal agent of Cercospora leaf spot disease on sugarbeet

Abstract

AbstractIn the present study, the antagonistic capability of bacterial agents inhabiting the rhizosphere of sugarbeet plants were evaluated against Cercospora beticola Sacc. under laboratory and greenhouse conditions. After preliminary screening using the dual culture method, 14 strains with higher antagonistic capability were selected for further inhibitory assays against C. beticola. Bacterial strains were identified based on the sequence data of the small subunit-rDNA (SSU-rDNA) gene. Based on the SSU sequence data, the identity of bacterial strains were determined as Bacillus (10 strains: RB1, RB2, RB3, RB4, RB5, RB6, RB7, RB8, RB9, RB10), Paenibacillus (two strains: RP1, RP2), Enterobacter (one strain: RE), and Pseudomonas (one strain: RPs). The results obtained in this study showed that in all of the assays (dual culture, volatile and non-volatile metabolites) bacterial antagonists significantly inhibited the growth of C. beticola compared to the control. Bacillus (RB2) showed the highest inhibition rate on C. beticola in all of the assays. Based on the results of the laboratory assays, three bacterial strains RB2 (Bacillus), RPs (Pseudomonas), and RE (Paenibacillus) were selected for greenhouse assays. The experiment was designed based on a completely randomised design (CRD) with the application of antagonists prior to, simultaneously, and after inoculation with C. beticola on sugarbeet leaves. The reduction in disease severity was evaluated seven days after inoculation. The results of greenhouse assays were consistent with the results of laboratory studies. The obtained results showed that bacterial antagonists significantly reduced the disease severity when compared to the control.