Potential of Bacillus subtilis for controlling bacterial leaf blight pathogen in rice

Abstract

Bacterial leaf blight (BLB) of rice is an economically important disease caused by Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae (Xoo) throughout the world. To control this disease, bacterial isolate of Bacillus subtilis UiTMB1 was screened for the antagonistic activity against the pathogen in vitro and in vivo studies. A bacterial assay and detached leaf technique were used to evaluate the potential of the bacterium against BLB pathogen in the laboratory. Meanwhile, the glasshouse study was conducted to further examine the aptitudes of the isolate on the disease control and growth-promoting of rice plants. The findings revealed that B. subtilis UiTMB1 is able to control the disease and enhance the growth of rice plants. Rice plants treated with B. subtilis UiTMB1 before being inoculated with BLB pathogen showed less severe disease symptoms with low disease severity index of 3.43 compared to rice plants without B. subtilis UiTMB1 with high disease severity index of 8.4. Besides controlling the disease, B. subtilis UiTMB1 was also promoting plant height, chlorophyll content, number of tillers and biomass of rice plants.