7.7.2 Blights and Leaf Spot
Foliar application withPseudomonasspp. induced disease resistance in rice against
sheath blight pathogen. In spite of the absence of this bacterium on plant surfaces,
its presence in the internal stem led to suppression of disease (Krishnamurthy and
Gnanamanickam 1997 ). Endobacteria bacteriumB. subtilis, isolated from xylem
fluid of chestnuts, suppressed the growth of chestnut blight pathogen,
Cryphonectria parasiticain vitro. The same bacteria reduced the lesion areas on
stems, when applied 3 days prior to challenge inoculation (Wilhelm et al. 1998 ).
The endophytes, viz.,Bacillus circulanceand Serratia marcescensesupple-
mented with chitin inhibited the conidial germination of early and late tikka leaf
spot in groundnut (Kishore et al. 2005 ). Four endophytic bacteria (OS-9, OS-10,
OS-11 and OS-12) were isolated from healthy leaves ofOcimum sanctumand
tested againstfive plant pathogens namelyR. solani, S. rolfsii, F. solani, A. solani
andC. lindemuthianum. Of these, the bacterial strain OS-9 was highly inhibitory to
the growth ofR. solani, A. solani, F. solaniandC. lindemuthianumwhile OS-11
alone was found antagonistic totA. solani(Kalraa et al. 2010 ). The culturefiltrate
of endophytic bacteria CE-6 exhibited the highest inhibition on the mycelia growth
of (61.3%) ofCercosporain vitro (Hima et al. 2013 ).
7.7.3 Powdery Mildew
The endophyticB. subtilisstrain E1R-j exhibited high antifungal activity against
wheat take all disease both in glasshouse andfield conditions (Liu et al. 2009 ).
Recently (Gao et al. 2015 ), who isolated 14 endophytic bacterial strains from wheat
leaves and tested againstBlumeria graminisf.sp.triticicausing wheat powdery
mildew disease. The results revealed thatB. subtilisstrain (E1R-j) significantly
reduced per cent disease index by 90.97% in pot culture under greenhouse
conditions.
7.7.4 Rust
The endophytic bacteria was isolated from leaves and branches ofCoffea arabica
andCoffea robustaand were tested against leaf rust pathogenHemileia vastatrixby
detached leaf and leaf disc method. Of these, the bacterial isolates TG4-Ia (Bacillus
lentimorbusDutky) and TF9-Ia (Bacillus cereusFrank & Frank) exhibited highest
growth inhibition against coffee rust pathogen (Shiomi et al. 2006 ). An endophytic
bacteria E1R-j was isolated from wheat leaves showed strong inhibitory effect on
wheat stripe rust in both greenhouse andfield conditions (Li et al. 2013 ).
7 Role of Bacterial Endophytes in Plant Disease Control 145