Effect of bacterial antagonists applied to seed on bacterial stot disease in pepper

Bacterial Spot Disease caused by Xanthomonas euvesicatoria is a bacterial disease that causes significant yield losses on tomatoes and peppers. In this study, the effect of seed applications on the biological control of the disease was investigated by using local bacterial antagonists. A total of 488 bacterial colonies were purified in the isolation of candidate antagonistic bacteria from pepper-grown soil, roots, green parts, and seeds in seven different cities. When the antimicrobial effects of these candidate had antagonists were investigated by the in vitro petri tests, it was determined that 9 antagonist bacterial strains had an inhibition zone between 3-9 mm in TSA medium. When the biological seed treatments with 9 local antagonists were applied to pepper seeds infected with Xanthomonas euvesicatoria, Adıyaman 6-1, Hsf 4-2, Suruç 4-2, AE 10-6, YL 4-3, Suruç 6-1 and Sumbas 4-2 coded antagonist strains suppressed the disease in seedlings by 15- 56% ratios. These applications also reduced the disease severity by 29-84% ratios. When the effect of these applications on seed germination was examined, it was determined that the most successful biological seed application was in antagonist strains YL 4-3 and Suruç 6-1 coded strains when. According to the identification studies MALDI TOF MS, YL 4-3 was identified as Bacillus subtilis and Suruç 6-1 was Bacillus amyloliquefaciens spp. plantarum. Biological seed applications using by bacterial antagonists contributed to the integrated disease management and biological control of Bacterial Spot Disease.