ISSN: 2576-7771
Authors: Nayak S*, Samanta S and Swain SS
Rice is the principal staple food for more than half population of earth which is infested by many pathogens including Fusarium. Numbers of Fusarium species are responsible for causing pathogenic implications in rice like bakanae, rot, blight, etc. Majority of them produce mycotoxins which are responsible for human and animal toxicity and the cause of cancer disease. Adoption of biological control methods utilizing microbial antagonists might be an eco-friendly option. Bacterial species including Bacillus species have been isolated from various sources for utilisation as biocontrol agents to combat crop pathogens. Cow dung and the cow shed air have been a good source of such antagonistic bacteria. Hence, in the current study eighteen bacteria (BC1 to BC18) including Bacillus species have been isolated from cow shed air and paddy seeds stored in cowshed of Odisha, India. Bacteria isolated from domestic cowshed showed excellent inhibitory capacity than those of commercial cowshed against pathogenic Fusarium F90 and pathogenic as well as fumonisin producing Fusarium F55. Non-fumonisin producer Fusarium F90 was inhibited relatively with higher degree by all the antagonistic bacteria even it was completely suppressed by BC6 after three days of interaction. Paddy seeds stored in cowshed were found to be saturated with cowshed antagonistic bacteria. These bacterial antagonists hold potential to be utilized as Biological Control Agents (BCA) for safeguarding rice production. Investigation on more number of bacterial species from more cowsheds will definitely give more insights in the pattern and mode of inhibition.
Keywords: Bacillus; Rice; Fusarium, Fumonisin; Cowshed
