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Diversity in antifungal activity of strains of Chromobacterium violaceum from the Brazilian Amazon

  • Short Communication
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Journal of Industrial Microbiology & Biotechnology

Abstract

Chromobacterium violaceum is a free-living Gram-negative bacterium found in soil and aquatic habitats; abundantly present in the Brazilian Amazon, it is an important example of exploitable microbial diversity of the tropics. In this study, 24 strains from the Brazilian Amazon and ATCC 12472T were investigated for biocontrol potential of seven fungi pathogenic to soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merril] seed. Both cells and the supernatants of two Brazilian strains, 07-1 and 27-1, together with ATCC 12472T were strongly antagonistic to six out of the seven fungi. The antifungal activity of the Brazilian strains to Fusarium sp., Phomopsis sp. and Cercospora kikuchi was consistently stronger than that of ATCC 12472T. In addition, the two Brazilian strains, but not ATCC 12472T, were effective against Corynespora sp., and all three strains and their supernatants were equally effective against Aspergillus sp. and Colletotrichum sp. None of the strains had antifungal activity against Botroyodiplodia sp. Three potential mechanisms related to the antibiosis were investigated: violacein toxicity, cyanide production and chitinolytic activity; however, it was not possible to associate any of them with the antifungal activity. The results highlight the biotechnological potential still to be explored within the poorly characterized microbial biodiversity of the tropics.

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Acknowledgments

To Ministério de Ciência e Tecnologia (MCT)/Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq) for financial support (6800220/00-3) and fellowships to the authors. Rodrigo Masel Capeletti Cioato and Adrian Augusto Sosa Gómez Rolim received under-graduated fellowships from the CNPq and helped in the experiments. We thank Dr. Allan R. J. Eaglesham for suggestions on the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Embrapa Soja, Cx. Postal 231, Londrina, Paraná, 86001-970, Brazil

    Eriana Serpa Barreto, Adalgisa Ribeiro Torres, Marliton Rocha Barreto & Mariangela Hungria

  2. CNPq, Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico, Brasilia, Brazil

    Eriana Serpa Barreto, Adalgisa Ribeiro Torres, Ana Tereza Ribeiro Vasconcelos, Spartaco Astolfi-Filho & Mariangela Hungria

  3. LNCC/MCT, Labinfo, Rua Getúlio Vargas 333, Petrópolis, Rio de Janeiro, 25651-071, Brazil

    Ana Tereza Ribeiro Vasconcelos

  4. Laboratório de Tecnologias de DNA, UFAM, Manaus, Amazonas, 69077-000, Brazil

    Spartaco Astolfi-Filho

Authors
  1. Eriana Serpa Barreto
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  2. Adalgisa Ribeiro Torres
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  3. Marliton Rocha Barreto
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  4. Ana Tereza Ribeiro Vasconcelos
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  5. Spartaco Astolfi-Filho
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  6. Mariangela Hungria
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Mariangela Hungria.

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Barreto, E.S., Torres, A.R., Barreto, M.R. et al. Diversity in antifungal activity of strains of Chromobacterium violaceum from the Brazilian Amazon. J Ind Microbiol Biotechnol 35, 783–790 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10295-008-0331-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10295-008-0331-z

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