Suppression of Bacterial Wilt with Bacillus subtilis SKU48-2 Strain

Bacterial populations from the rhizosphere were obtained and the efficacy of the bacterial wilt suppression, root colonizing ability and resistance to three kinds of chemical pesticides were assayed. According to these results, SKU48-2 was selected as a potential biological agent to control the bacterial wilt caused by Ralstonia solanacearum. SKU48-2 strain at inoculum was able to suppress the bacterial wilt up to 60% in greenhouse trials. Also, the resistance of SKU48-2 to chemical pesticides make possible to use in combination with chemical pesticides for the control of bacterial wilt. Three different powder formulations of SKU48-2 were developed. The shelf-life of powder formulations was effective up to 6 months of storage. Unformulated bacterial suspension could not be stored for 2 weeks, at which time cell viability was completely lost. According to 16S rDNA sequence data, the SKU48-2 stain was identified as Bacillus subtilis.