Soil Bacillus spp. -- a potent cell factory for antimicrobials against phytopathogens.

Many plant diseases are caused by phytopathogenic bacteria which greatly determine the quality of plant production. The biological control of plant pathogenic bacteria is an alternative method to the application of chemicals, which may be accomplished through the destruction of existing inoculums, exclusion from the host, or the suppression or displacement of the pathogen after infection. It offers an environmentally friendly approach to the management of plant disease and can be incorporated with cultural and physical control and limited chemical usage for an effective and integrated disease-management system. Biological control includes the use of beneficial microorganisms, such as specialized fungi and bacteria, to attack and control plant pathogens and the diseases they cause. Biological control is an innovative, cost effective and eco-friendly approach for control of many plant diseases. Bacteria of the genus Bacillus has showed antimicrobial activity against plant pathogenic microorganisms. Bacillus spp. are natural inhabitants of the phyllosphere and rhizosphere. These bacteria are involved in the control of plant diseases through a variety of mechanisms of action, such as competition, systemic resistance induction and antibiotic production. The mechanism of antibiosis has been shown to be one of the most important. Bacillus spp. have the advantage of being already adapted to the environment where they can be applied as biological control. They have the characteristics of having high thermal tolerance, showing rapid growth in liquid culture, and readily form resistant spores. It is considered safe biological agents and their potential as biocontrol agents is considered to be high. This research is based on the isolation and screening of biocontrol activities of soil Bacillus sp. against several phytopathogens in in vitro study. Since tested isolate has showed the production of antimicrobials against the growth of selected phytopathogens, in further work, all of this trial need to be supported by evaluation of antimicrobial activity in in vivo. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]