Control of grey mould disease on strawberry using the effective agent, Bacillus amyloliquefaciens Y1

ABSTRACT

This study was conducted to investigate the effect of Bacillus amyloliquefaciens Y1 on the control of grey mould disease caused by Botrytis cinerea and subsequent growth promotion of strawberry. Strain Y1 strongly inhibited mycelial growth of B. cinerea on different media with the highest inhibition of 61.22% on V8 juice agar medium. The higher the bacterial culture filtrate (BCF) concentration of strain Y1 blended in the PDA medium, the stronger the rate of inhibition on mycelial growth of B. cinerea. Microscopic observation revealed that the hyphal structure of the fungal pathogen was severely affected by the BCF indicating abnormal growth with excessive branching and swelling. Strain Y1 showed the promising ability to suppress grey mould disease under in vivo conditions and significantly lessened disease severity on flowers and fruits leading to an increase in disease control value when compared to fungicide treatment. Moreover, application of strain Y1 resulted in a significant promotion of strawberry plants with higher values in most growth characteristics compared to other treatments. The detection of higher levels of the defence-related enzyme, β-1,3-glucanase in the Y1-treated plants indicated that induction of resistance by this strain was at least partly involved in disease suppression. Even though there were reductions in the overall numbers of the soil bacterial population in the Y1-treated plants, no significant impact on the growth of strawberry was observed. Based on our results, strain Y1 is a promising candidate for environment-friendly disease control strategies.

KEYWORDS:

• Bacillus amyloliquefaciens Y1
• Botrytis cinerea
• grey mould
• strawberry

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This research was supported by Korean Institute of Planning and Evaluation for Technology in Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (IPET) through Agro and Livestock Products Safety·Flow Management Technology Development Program, funded by the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (MAFRA) (118082-2).