twenty two bacterial strains isolated from different fruits including red pepper,
tomato, white plum, egg plant and zucchini. Of these, 20 strains were able to
controlM. laxain apricot and plum fruits.R. stoloniferwas less susceptible to
antagonistic bacteria thanM. laxaand only one strain effectively controlledR.
stolonifer(Pratella et al. 1993 ).
Endophytic bacteria (B. subtilis) isolated from stored apples have been used in
the biocontrol of post harvest diseases of apple (Sholberg et al. 1995 ). Further, an
inhibitory compound acidic peptide produced byB. subtilis, was responsible for the
inhibition ofBotrytis cinereabut not toPenicillium expansum(Bechard et al.
1998 ). The acidic peptide had a wide spectrum activity against Gram-negative
bacteria. Similarly, 175 endophytic bacterial strains were isolated from vegetable
produce and were screened for control ofB. cinereaon pears (Bacon et al. 2001 ).
Two bacterial strains,B. amyloliquefaciensandB. pumulis, were effective.
Incubating fruits treated with these bacteria at 200 °C for 24 h before cold storage
were significantly protected againstB. cinerea(Mari et al. 1996 ). The endophytic
bacteriumBacillus thuringiensisis capable of releasing volatile substances that lead
to the inhibition ofFusariumsambucinumin potato tubers (Sadfiet al. 2001 ). Two
hundred andfifty eight endophytic bacteria were isolated from chilli leaves and
screened against chilli fruit rot pathogenColletotrichum capsiciby fruit bioassay
method. Of the endophytes tested,B. megaterium(ENB-86) recorded the highest
suppression of lesion development in chilli fruits (59.66%) (Ramanujam et al.
2012 ).
The endophytic bacteriumB. lentimorbusshowed highest inhibition on the
development ofBotrytis cinereacausing grey mould disease fruits. This might be
due to the production of antifungal substances alpha- and beta-glucosidase (Cheng
et al. 2015 ), while fruits treated with formulation ofBacillus cereusCE3 showed
effective control of chestnut blight and other fruit rot caused by Endothia
parasitica(Murr) andFusarium solaniand also increased the shelf life of fruits
(Cheng et al. 2015 ). Some other examples of endophytic bacteria against fungal
pathogens are shown in Table7.2.
7.7.8 Nematode Diseases
Endophytic bacteria have an additional advantage in control of phytoparasitic
nematodes since the injuries produced by nematodes favour for the entry of bacteria
and colonize the root surface and their introduction into the root tissue (Bookbinder
et al. 1982 ; Khan 1993 ). In cotton and tomato root knot nematode infection, peanut
root knot and reniform nematode infection can be effectively controlled by usingB.
subtilis(Sikora 1988 ). Seven endophytic bacteria,Aerococcus viridans, B. mega-
terium, B. subtilis, P. chlororaphis, P. vesicularis, S. marcescens and
7 Role of Bacterial Endophytes in Plant Disease Control 147