PJB-2023-194
Biocontrol potential of pseudomonas aeruginosa strains against root rot phytopathogens
Sumara Shaheen, Hafiza Farhat, Hafza Asma Shafique, Noureen Rehan and Tayyab Raza Fraz
Abstract
Each year billions of dollars in losses occur due to root rot pathogens which affect almost all types of plants and it is burning issues for the plants world. As these pathogens invade the roots of the plants which ultimately destroy the whole plants. The use of microorganisms is environment friendly, escalated global food production with obscure environmental hazards and has a strong potential to destroy these root rot pathogens while enhancing plant immunity. Keeping this in mind, wild healthy plants from different areas of Karachi were collected for the isolation of endophytic Pseudomonas aeruginosa. In this study, total 14 strains of fluorescent Pseudomonas were isolated from plant samples in order to check their potentially initially In vitro activity and then potential strains were applied in pot experiments. In vitro activity, P. aeruginosa strains showed noteworthy activity contrary to root rotting fungi in dual plate assay. Culture filtrates of P. aeruginosa strains showed strong antimicrobial activity against some common lab bacteria viz., Bacillus subtilis, Staphylococcus aureus, Salmonella typhimurium and Escherichia coli by formation of prominent zone of inhibition. In the screen house experiment, application of all 14 strains of Pseudomonas aeruginosa showed significant bio-control activity against four major root rotting fungi viz., Rhizoctonia solani, Fusarium oxysporum, F. solani and Macrophomina phaseolina. Significant changes were observed in the amount of chlorophyll and carotenoid in mung bean plants that were inoculated with various strains. Significant increase in the amount of carbohydrates and proteins showed that these strains have strong potential to boost the immunity of plants and can be further used for agriculture. It is thus revealed that a multifunctional PGPR acts as a potential biocontrol agent to control fungal and bacterial pathogens
To Cite this article:
Shaheen, S., H. Farhat, H.A. Shafique, N. Rehan and T.R. Fraz. 2025. Biocontrol potential of pseudomonas aeruginosa strains against root rot phytopathogens. Pak. J. Bot., 57(2): DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.30848/PJB2025-2(27)
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