Abstract

Bacillus cereus X5 was isolated and identified and combined with organic fertilizer to prepare bio-organic fertilizer (BOF) and test its suppressive ability against root-knot nematodes. The results from a pot experiment showed that BOF could significantly decrease the number of galls of tomato roots compared to the control and the suppressive efficiency reached 63.1%. By labeling the B. cereus X5 with green fluorescent protein (GFP), results indicated that B. cereus X5-gfp can kill larva of nematodes at the J2 stage and can reduce egg hatching rates of the nematodes. B.cereus X5-gfp was able to efficiently colonize the rhizosphere soil and the root surfaces of tomato. The growth of nematodes in rhizosphere soil was suppressed and protected tomato roots from infection by the nematodes due to B. cereus X5-gfp colonizing the root surface of tomato.

Key words: Bacillus cereus, bio-organic fertilizer, root-knot nematode, green fluorescent protein, tomato.