AUTHOR=Cui Yongliang , Zhu Yuhang , Dong Guanyong , Li Yanmei , Xu Jing , Cheng Zuqiang , Li Lijun , Gong Guoshu , Yu Xiumei 

TITLE=Evaluation of the control efficacy of antagonistic bacteria from V-Ti magnetite mine tailings on kiwifruit brown spots in pot and field experiments

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Microbiology

VOLUME=15

YEAR=2024

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/microbiology/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2024.1280333

DOI=10.3389/fmicb.2024.1280333

ISSN=1664-302X

ABSTRACT=<p>Seemingly barren heavy-metal-polluted vanadium (V) and titanium (Ti) magnetite mine tailings contain various functional microbes, yet it is unclear whether this includes microbial resources relevant to the biological control of plant diseases. Kiwifruit brown leaf spot disease, caused by <italic>Corynespora cassiicola</italic>, can seriously reduce kiwifruit yield. To discover effective control measures for kiwifruit leaf spot, 18 bacteria strains among 136 tailing-isolated bacteria from V-Ti magnetite mine tailings were identified as inhibiting <italic>C. cassiicola</italic> by the confrontation plate method, indicating that antagonistic bacteria surviving in the V-Ti magnetite mine tailings were present at a low level. The 18 antagonistic strains could be divided into two BOX-A1R clusters. The 13 representative strains that were selected for phylogenetic tree construction based on their 16S rRNA sequences belonged to the <italic>Bacillus</italic> genus. Five predominant strains exhibited different toxin-production times and intensities, with four of them initiating toxin production at 32 h. Among them, <italic>Bacillus</italic> sp. KT-10 displayed the highest bacteriostatic rate (100%), with a 37.5% growth inhibition rate and an antagonistic band of 3.2 cm against <italic>C. cassiicola</italic>. <italic>Bacillus</italic> sp. KT10 also showed a significant inhibitory effect against the expansion speed of kiwifruit brown spots in the pot. The relative control effect was 78.48 and 83.89% at 7 days after the first and last spraying of KT-10 dilution, respectively, confirming a good effect of KT-10 on kiwifruit brown leaf spots in the field. This study demonstrated for the first time that there are some antagonistic bacteria to pathogenic <italic>C. cassiicola</italic> in V-Ti magnetite mine tailings, and <italic>Bacillus</italic> sp. KT10 was found to have a good control effect on kiwifruit brown leaf spots in pots and fields, which provided an effective biological control measurement for kiwifruit brown leaf spots.</p>