ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Microbiol.
Sec. Microbe and Virus Interactions with Plants
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2025.1582763
This article is part of the Research TopicBacillus and Pseudomonas as Plant Friends: Molecular, Physiological and Ecological InteractionsView all 10 articles
Genomic and Metabolomic Insights into the Biocontrol Potential of Bacillus velezensis ZHR0 Against Sugarcane Smut
Provisionally accepted
Pan Kaiyuan1
Jun Chen1Huojian Li1Shiqiang Xu1Jihua Wang1Xiaoni Yan1Yueying Zhao1
JIANG HONG TAO1
Abdullah Khan2Muhammad Tahir Khan2Charles A Powell3Ronghui Wen1
Muqing Zhang1*- 1Guangxi University, Nanning, China
- 2National Institute for Biotechnology and Genetic Engineering (Pakistan), Faisalabad, Punjab, Pakistan
- 3University of Florida, Fort Pierce, United States
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Sugarcane smut, caused by Sporisorium scitamineum, is a major disease threatening global sugarcane production. Biological control agents (BCAs) offer environmentally sustainable alternatives to chemical fungicides, with Bacillus velezensis recognized for its broadspectrum antifungal properties. In this study, B. velezensis ZHR0 was isolated from sugarcane leaves and evaluated for its antifungal activity through in vitro dual-culture assays and in vivo greenhouse trials. Field application of a ZHR0-based biofertilizer achieved a maximum disease control efficiency of 43.86 %. Whole-genome sequencing revealed a 4.04 Mb genome with a GC content of 46.48 %, encoding 4,150 genes, including multiple biosynthetic gene clusters (BGCs) associated with secondary metabolite production. In vitro assays showed that ZHR0 inhibited the growth of S. scitamineum by 53.20 % and reduced disease incidence in sugarcane seedlings by 45.74 %. Notably, BGCs for iturin, fengycin, surfactin, and difficidin were identified, and liquid chromatographymass spectrometry (LC-MS) confirmed the production of iturin, supporting its role in antifungal activity. These findings demonstrate the biocontrol potential of B. velezensis ZHR0 against sugarcane smut and provide integrated genomic and metabolomic evidence for its application as a sustainable biocontrol agent in sugarcane cultivation.
Keywords: Bacillus velezensis, Sporisorium scitamineum, biocontrol, Antifungal activity, Whole-genome sequencing
Received: 24 Feb 2025; Accepted: 22 Apr 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Kaiyuan, Chen, Li, Xu, Wang, Yan, Zhao, TAO, Khan, Tahir Khan, Powell, Wen and Zhang. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Muqing Zhang, Guangxi University, Nanning, China
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