Screening of lactic acid bacteria as biological control against chilli seeds pathogen ( Colletotrichum gloeosporioides)

Abstract Chilli, Caps/Cum annum L. cultlvatien has existed for several hundred years as a sustainable form of agriculture in Malaysia and in many other countries. It is an annual herbaceous vegetable and spice grown in both tropical and sub-tropical regions and belongs to family Solanaceae. The sustainability of chilli-based agriculture is threatened by a number of factors. Main biotic stresses such as bacterial wilt, anthracnose, viruses andseveral insect pests have been reported to impair the crop productivity. The fungal disease is both seed and air borne and affects seed germination and plant vigour to a. greater extent. Biological control by antagonistic microorganisms i~·Jvidely recognized as a promising method for control plant diseases. This study reports the effectiveness of using lactic acid bacteria (LAB) cultures or their supernatant as. a biological control against anthracnose disease in chilli caused by fungus Colleto[richum gloeosporioides. From 30 lactic acid bacteria isolated from different sources, seven isolates showed good int1Jbition activity against c. gloeosporioides by dual overlay method. The supernatant from LAB-CS showed strong inhibition to fungal growth evaluated using microtlter plates. Seeds infected with C. gloeosporioides followed by treatment with LAB-CS cells showed better seed germination rate than seed treated with supernatant Fungi infected seeds were germinated but fail to grow. The results indicate that LA:B-C5 has potential to be used as biological contro