Authors:
Yasser Akeed, Mohammed Imad Eddin Arabi, Mohammed Aljahjah, and Yasser Bakri
Volume 29, Issue 4;
Pages: 309-314; 2023
ISSN: 2069-0053 (print), Agroprint;
ISSN (online): 2068-9551
Grey mould caused by the fungus Botrytis cinerea is an economically important disease in numerous crops. Biocontrol is a promising method to control the disease. Species of Streptomyces are potential biological control agents. In this study we evaluated the efficacy of One hundred twenty-four isolates of Streptomyces spp. against B. cinerea in vitro. Strains Str98 of S. hypolithicus and Str112 of S. albidoflavus have shown the highest ability to inhibit the growth of B. cinerea, with inhibition of 86 % and 81% consecutively. These isolates showed efficiency in the production of hydrolytic enzymes that may have an important role in their antifungal activity. The results also showed that cell free supernatant of Str98 and Str112 had the ability to inhibit the growth of fungus. Treating tomato leaves that were infected with gray mold reduced the infection by 50% when treated with the strain S. hypolithicus Str98. The results of this study demonstrated that selected Streptomyces strains and their free cell crude extract could be used as biocontrol agent against gray mold fungus.