Abstract

Endophytic bacteria are one of the most potential biological control agents in plant disease protection. The aim of this work was to evaluate the antimicrobial activities of a strain of endophytic bacterium which was isolated from Epimedium brevicornuMaxim. The dual tests revealed that this endophytic bacterium strain displayed a wide-spectrum antimicrobial activity against 14 fugal phytopathogens and one bacterial phytopathogen; it especially strongly inhibited Alternaria alternata,Sclerotinia sclerotiorum, Verticillium dahliae, Botrytis cinerea and Botrytis fabae. Identification of this strain based on morphology, physiological and chemical characteristics and 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis demonstrated that it belonged to the genus Phyllobacterium.

Key words: Endophytic bacteria, antimicrobial bioactivity, 16S rRNA gene.