부산대학교 도서관

The occurrence of pests and diseases can affect plant health and productivity in ecosystems that are already at risk, such as tropical montane cloud forests. The use of naturally occurring microorganisms is a promising alternative to mitigate forest tree fungal pathogens. The objectives of this study were to isolate rhizobacteria associated with five Lauraceae species from a Mexican tropical montane cloud forest and to evaluate their antifungal activity against Fusarium solaniand F. oxysporum. Fifty-six rhizobacterial isolates were assessed for mycelial growth inhibition of Fusariumspp. through dual culture assays. Thirty-three isolates significantly reduced the growth of F. solani, while 21 isolates inhibited that of F. oxysporum. The nine bacterial isolates that inhibited fungal growth by more than 20% were identified through 16S rDNA gene sequence analysis; they belonged to the genera Streptomyces, Arthrobacter, Pseudomonas, and Staphylococcus. The volatile organic compounds (VOC) produced by these nine isolates were evaluated for antifungal activity. Six isolates (Streptomycessp., Arthrobactersp., Pseudomonassp., and Staphylococcusspp.) successfully inhibited F. solanimycelial growth by up to 37% through VOC emission, while only the isolate INECOL-21 (Pseudomonassp.) inhibited F. oxysporum. This work provides information on the microbiota of Mexican Lauraceae and is one of the few studies identifying forest tree–associated microbes with inhibitory activity against tree pathogens.