Antifungal Activities of Pseudomonas spp. Strains Against Plant Pathogens and Optimization of Culture Conditions

To define the optimum conditions for the mass production of four antifungal Pseudomonas spp. isolated from soil, we have investigated culture conditions and effects of various nutrient sources on the bacterial growth and evaluated antagonistic activity against Rhizoctonia solani and Sclerotinia homoeocarpa, plant pathogens. The optimum temperature and pH for the growth of these isolates were determined as pH 7.0 and 20°C or 25°C, respectively. Sucrose, tryptone, and K2HPO4 generally were more adequate for better growth as carbon, nitrogen and mineral source, respectively. The nutrient sources were also found to be very effective for high antifungal activities against R. solani and S. homoeocarpa. It was elucidated that YUD-F group (P. mandelii and P. fluorescens ), which inhabit regions at relatively low temperature, had more broad spectrum and higher antifungal activity than YUD-O group (P. trivialis and P. jessenii) generally against R. solani and S. homoeocarpa. It is thought that the differences of the average temperature in the various habitats of Pseudomonas spp. influence the optimal growth temperature and antifungal activity. Especially, Pseudomonas spp. of YUD-O group showed the better antifungal activity against dollar spot caused by S. homoeocarpa, but showed relatively weaker antifungal activity against brown patch caused by R. solani.