Characterizing CMN1308, a Novel Strain of Bacillus amyloliquefaciens, for Potential Biological Control Application

Fungal diseases of plants continue to contribute to heavy crop losses in spite of the best control efforts of plant pathologists. Breeding for disease-resistant varieties and the application of synthetic chemical fungicides are the most widely accepted approaches in plant disease management. CMN1308 strain of Bacillus amyloliquefaciens was isolated from healthy Chinese chestnut fruit, which has antibiosis and induced resistance to the prevention mechanism of pathogenic bacterium after picking. In order to evaluate the antibiosis mechanism, CMN1308 was fostered with the method of confront culture. The antimicrobial components were also isolated from the culture of CMN1308, and their stability and antimicrobial activity was tested under different treatments such as temperature, pH and UV. The results showed that CMN1308 displays advantages in regard to spatial competition against the major pathogens of chestnut, Rhizopus stolonifer, Fusarium solani, Stachybotrys chartarum, Cryphonectria parasitica, Lasiodiplodia theobromae, Penicillium expansum and Aspergillus niger. Among this, CMN1308 had the best antimicrobial activity against P. expansum, with the inhibition zone diameter of 27.1 mm. The antimicrobial material isolated from CMN1308 culture showed a strong inhibition to the growth of P. expansum hyphal and also had a good stability to high temperature, alkali media and UV, but was sensitive to acidic conditions. Furthermore, CMN1308 increased the peroxidase, polyphenol oxidase activity and reduced the MDA content in chestnuts after infecting by pathogenic fungi. Thus, producing antibiotic compounds and inducible resistance are the main factors that may explain the antibacterial mechanism of CMN1308 on chestnut pathogenic. The results of this study might help to optimize the practical use of CMN1308 in the biological control of chestnut rot or other fruit rot infected by pathogenic fungi.