Antifungal Activity of Some Indigenous Lactic Acid Bacteria Isolated from Soft Wheat

Abstract

The objective of this study was to find an alternative to chemical control of pathogenic fungi in wheat, using microorganisms that are safe and that can be isolated from the same biotopes of the pathogens. Lactic acid bacteria isolated from soft wheat grains were screened for their antifungal activity against Fusarium graminearum Schwab, Aspergillus flavus Link and Aspergillus parasiticus Speare, using two techniques (overlay and co-culture) on De Man, Rogosa, and Sharpe agar. The overlay method showed that out of forty-six lactic acid bacteria, five isolates showed an inhibition of radial growth range from 1% to 73.89%. According to the co-culture method, the most efficient biological agent for wheat mold growth isolate was LAB001 with an average rate of inhibition of 31.18% against A. flavus, 42.26% against A. parasiticus and 55.53% against F. graminearum. Lactic acid bacteria LAB001 was identified as Enterococcus faecium with 99.6% of similarity. E. faecium LAB001 can be considered as promising isolate for the biocontrol of pathogenic molds in small grain cereals.

Keywords

• biocontrol
• lactic acid bacteria
• pathogenic molds