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Evaluation of Antifungal Activity of Endophytic Bacillus spp. and Identification of Secondary Metabolites Produced Against the Phytopathogenic Fungi

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Abstract

Endophytic bacteria serve as a rich source of diverse antimicrobial compounds. Recently, there has been a growing interest in utilizing endophytic Bacillus spp. as biological agents against phytogenic fungi, owing to their potential to produce a wide range of antimicrobial substances. The objective of this research was to investigate the protective abilities of 15 endophytic Bacillus spp. isolated from previous study from wheat plant, against the phytopathogenic fungi, Fusarium graminearum and Macrophomina phaseolina. A dual culture plate assay was conducted as a preliminary analysis, revealing that 7 out of 15 endophytic Bacillus spp. demonstrated inhibition against one or both of the phytopathogenic fungi used in this study. All seven endophytes were further assessed for the presence of diffusible antifungal metabolites. The cultures were grown in potato dextrose broth for 120 h, and the cell-free supernatant was extracted and analyzed using the cup plate method. The methanolic extract yielded similar results to the dual culture plate analysis, except for WL2-15. Additionally, deformities in the mycelial structure were examined under the light microscope upon exposure to methanolic extract. Furthermore, the analysis and identification of metabolites were carried out via gas chromatography–mass spectrometry of methanolic extract from selected seven endophytic Bacillus spp. The chromatogram revealed the presence of some major peaks such as tridecanoic acid, methyl ester, hydroperoxide, 1-methylbutyl, 9-octadecenamide, (z)-, hexane-1,3,4-triol, 3,5-dimethyl- tetradecanoic acid. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of these biocontrol agents in endophytic Bacillus spp. Interestingly, volatile organic compound production was also seen in all the isolates against the phytopathogenic fungi.

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Acknowledgements

JKP is grateful to CHARUSAT SEED grant for funding this research work.

Funding

This work was supported by Charotar University of Science and Technology (CHARUSAT), Changa, Gujarat, India.

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  1. Department of Biological Sciences, P. D. Patel Institute of Applied Sciences, Charotar University of Science and Technology, Changa, Gujarat, 388 421, India

    Janki K. Patel, Yukta Mistry, Riya Soni & Anamika Jha

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  2. Yukta Mistry
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Contributions

JKP carried out the conceptualization, experimental designing, identification of secondary metabolite, data analysis, and writing the manuscript. YM performed experiments related to antifungal activity, extraction and microscopic examination of mycelia. RS carried out the experiments on endophytic colonization in various wheat variety. AJ helps in the manuscript preparation.

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Correspondence to Janki K. Patel.

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Patel, J.K., Mistry, Y., Soni, R. et al. Evaluation of Antifungal Activity of Endophytic Bacillus spp. and Identification of Secondary Metabolites Produced Against the Phytopathogenic Fungi. Curr Microbiol 81, 128 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00284-024-03652-6

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