Antagonistic Activity and Characterization of Indigenous Soil Isolates of Bacteria and Fungi Against Onion Wilt Incited by Fusarium sp
Abstract Tuber rot disease due to phytopathogen Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. cepae (Foc) infection is one of the main factors causing the decreasing amount of global shallot production. This study aims to find bacteria and fungi candidates which have Foc antagonistic activity through in vitro tests using dual culture techniques. A total of five bacterial isolates and three fungal isolates isolated from the rhizosphere of healthy onion plants showed the ability to inhibit Foc growth. B1 and B4 bacterial isolates had an average inhibitory capability of 65.93% and 72.27% respectively. Whereas C1 and C2 fungal isolates have the ability to inhibit the growth of Foc by as much as 74.82% and 67.76% respectively. The four tested microbial isolates were able to significantly inhibit Foc activity in vitro based on the ANOVA test, with values α = 0.05, and n = 3. Molecular analysis based on 16S-rRNA markers showed bacterial isolates B1 and B4 have an evolutionary relationship with B. subtilis. Whereas fungi C1 and C2 have evolutionary relationships with Aspergillus tubingensis and Trichoderma asperellum respectively, based on internal transcribed spacer (ITS) gene markers. The results of this study can be used to develop indigenous microbial consortiums as biological control agents for phytopathogenic fungi Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. cepae (Foc) on shallots.