Biological Control Control of Fusarium Wilt of Radish by Combining Pseudomonas putida Strains that have Different Disease-Suppressive Mechanisms

radish by combining Pseudomonas putida strains that have different disease-suppressive mechanisms. Phytopathology 93:626-632. Biological control of soilborne plant pathogens in the field has given variable results. By combining specific strains of microorganisms, multiple traits antagonizing the pathogen can be combined and this may result in a higher level of protection. Pseudomonas putida WCS358 suppresses Fusarium wilt of radish by effectively competing for iron through the production of its pseudobactin siderophore. However, in some bioassays pseudobactin-negative mutants of WCS358 also suppressed disease to the same extent as WCS358, suggesting that an, as yet unknown, additional mechanism may be operative in this strain. P. putida strain RE8 induced systemic resistance against fusarium wilt. When WCS358 and RE8 were mixed through soil together, disease suppression was significantly en-hanced to approximately 50 % as compared to the 30 % reduction for the single strain treatments. Moreover, when one strain failed to suppres