Identification and Characterization of Antagonistic Bacteria from Coffee Plant Litter

Abstract

Nowadays, the use of antagonistic bacteria is widely applied in agriculture and used as biological control. A previous study which is yet to be identified based on physiological and biochemical characterizations discovered these organisms present in coffee plant litter could control fusarium wilt disease. Therefore, this study is a follow-up analysis that aims to identify coffee litter antagonistic bacteria with the ability to control fusarium wilt disease. The investigation techniques used were biochemical tests comprising of endospore staining, yellow colony growth test on media, bacterial purification and screening, macroscopic and microscopic characterization, Gram, the solubility of 3% KOH, fermentative oxidative, fluorescent pigment production, catalase, hypersensitivity, nitrogen-fixing, and phosphate solvent test. The results showed that antagonistic bacteria, including Bacillus mycoides, Clostridium, Pseudomonas, Erwinia, and Alcaligenes sp. were identified based on their character traits. This study represents new information on the bacteria types from coffee litter to control pathogenic fungi as an environmentally friendly biological control agent.