Antifungal activity of chitinolytic bacteria isolated from airtight stored cereal grain

Chitinolytic bacteria are used as biocontrol agents of plant pathogenic fungi. They might also potentially inhibit growth of molds, e.g., Aspergillus spp. and Penicillium spp., in stored plant material. We isolated chitinolytic bacteria from airtight stored cereal grain and evaluated their antifungal capacity. Between 0.01 and 0.5% of the total aerobic counts were chitinolytic bacteria. Gram-negative bacteria, mainly Pseudomonadaceae, constituted approximately 80% of the chitinolytic population. Gram-positive isolates belonged predominantly to the Corynebacterium-Arthrobacter group, Streptomyces, and Bacillus. Chitinolytic activity was evaluated using culture filtrates from chitin-grown isolates as the release of p-nitrophenol from p-nitrophenyl N,N'-diacetylchitobiose and as the formation of clearing zones on chitin agar. No correlation between chitinolytic activity and antifungal effects was found when challenging Penicillium roqueforti Dierckx with bacterial isolates on chitin agar in a dual culture bi...