This Article Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Reprints and Permissions Copyright Information Books from ASM Press MicrobeWorld Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Asaka, O. Articles by Shoda, M. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Asaka, O. Articles by Shoda, M. Agricola Articles by Asaka, O. Articles by Shoda, M.

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

Appl. Environ. Microbiol., Nov 1996, 4081-4085, Vol 62, No. 11
Copyright © 1996, American Society for Microbiology

Biocontrol of Rhizoctonia solani Damping-Off of Tomato with Bacillus subtilis RB14

O Asaka and M Shoda
Research Laboratory of Resources Utilization, Tokyo Institute of Technology, Nagatsuta, Midori-ku, Yokohama, 226 Japan

Bacillus subtilis RB14, which showed antibiotic activities against several phytopathogens in vitro by producing the antibiotics iturin A and surfactin, was subjected to a pot test to investigate its ability to suppress damping-off of tomato seedlings caused by Rhizoctonia solani. To facilitate recovery from soil, B. subtilis RB14-C, a spontaneous streptomycin-resistant mutant of RB14, was used. Damping-off was suppressed when the culture broth, cell suspension, or cell-free culture broth of RB14-C was inoculated into soil. Iturin A and surfactin were recovered from the soils inoculated with the cell suspension of RB14-C, confirming that RB14-C produced them in soil. The gene lpa-14, which was cloned from RB14 and required for the production of both antibiotics, was mutated in RB14-C, and a mutant, R(Delta)1, was constructed. The level of disease suppressibility of R(Delta)1 was low, but R(Delta)1(pC115), a transformant of R(Delta)1 with the plasmid pC115 carrying lpa-14, was restored in suppressibility. These results show that the antibiotics iturin A and surfactin produced by RB14 play a major role in the suppression of damping-off caused by R. solani. RB14-C, R(Delta)1, and R(Delta)1(pC115) persisted in soil during the experimental period and were recovered from the soil, mostly as spores.

This article has been cited by other articles:

• Koumoutsi, A., Chen, X.-H., Henne, A., Liesegang, H., Hitzeroth, G., Franke, P., Vater, J., Borriss, R. (2004). Structural and Functional Characterization of Gene Clusters Directing Nonribosomal Synthesis of Bioactive Cyclic Lipopeptides in Bacillus amyloliquefaciens Strain FZB42. J. Bacteriol. 186: 1084-1096 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Bais, H. P., Fall, R., Vivanco, J. M. (2004). Biocontrol of Bacillus subtilis against Infection of Arabidopsis Roots by Pseudomonas syringae Is Facilitated by Biofilm Formation and Surfactin Production. Plant Physiol. 134: 307-319 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Nielsen, T. H., Sorensen, J. (2003). Production of Cyclic Lipopeptides by Pseudomonas fluorescens Strains in Bulk Soil and in the Sugar Beet Rhizosphere. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 69: 861-868 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Nielsen, T. H., Sorensen, D., Tobiasen, C., Andersen, J. B., Christophersen, C., Givskov, M., Sorensen, J. (2002). Antibiotic and Biosurfactant Properties of Cyclic Lipopeptides Produced by Fluorescent Pseudomonas spp. from the Sugar Beet Rhizosphere. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 68: 3416-3423 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Tsuge, K., Akiyama, T., Shoda, M. (2001). Cloning, Sequencing, and Characterization of the Iturin A Operon. J. Bacteriol. 183: 6265-6273 [Abstract] [Full Text]