BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

Fungal wilt diseases cause reduction in both the quality and quantity of major agricultural crops resulting in substantial economic losses each year. In particular, verticillium wilt caused by the infection of the plant's root and vascular system by Verticillium dahliae severly affects potatoes, cotton, and many other important crop plants. Control of Verticillium dahliae is problematic because of its persistence in the soil and its endophytic location in the root system of the plant. Although a number of control techniques have been suggested, such as soil fumigation, crop rotation, resistant cultivars, and use of new planting locations uninfected by the fungus, none have been entirely successful. Soil fumigation is prohibitively expensive, pollutes the environment, and must be periodically repeated. Rotation with non-susceptible crops will reduce the fungal infestation, but suitable alternate crops provide an inadequate economic return. Finally, the amount of useful farmland is limited which provides a strong disincentive to unecomonic utilization.

It would thus be desirable to provide an effective biological control which inhibits verticillium wilt in a safe and economic manner, while maintaining land productivity.

2. Description of the Prior Art

Wadi (1982) "Biological Control of Verticillium dahliae on Potato" (Ph.D. Thesis) Washington State University, Department of Plant Pathology, describes the use of particular strains of Cellulomonas flavigena, Pseudomonas fluorescens, and Streptomyces flavofungini for the control of verticillium wilt on potatoes. U.S. Department of Agriculture publication ARS-S-19 (December 1973) entitled "Verticillium Wilt of Cotton" describes various biological and chemical control schemes, including crop rotation, soil fumigation, systemic fungicides, systemic insecticides, and growth regulators. The biological control of vascular wilt fungi is discussed in Baker: "Biological Control" in Fungal Wilt Diseases of Plants, Chapter 14, Academic Press, New York (1981) pp. 523-561; and Kommedahl and Windels: "Introduction of Microbial Antagonists to Specific Courts of Infection: Seeds, Seedlings and Wounds" in Bettsville Symposia in Agriculture Research [5] Biological Control in Crop Production, Allanhead, Osmun, Grandida, London, Toronto, Sydney, pp. 226-248. Marois (1982) Plant Disease 66:1166-1168 describes the treatment of plant roots with Taleromyces flavus to treat verticillium wilt in eggplant.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

A particular strain in the genus Bacillus is provided for protection of susceptible plant hosts against verticillium wilt. The subject Bacillus strain inhibits the growth of Verticillium dahliae, the fungus responsible for verticillium wilt, and can be used as a seed inoculant.

DESCRIPTION OF THE SPECIFIC EMBODIMENTS

Bacillus polymyxa 9A is provided for the inoculation of seeds to inhibit verticillium wilt. The subject strain will inhibit the growth of Verticillium dahliae and is not toxic when applied to the seeds of susceptible plant hosts.

Bacillus polymyxa 9A was deposited at the American Type Culture Collection on December 27, 1983, and granted accession no. 39564. The strain was isolated from the roots of potato plants growing in a field heavily infested with Verticillium dahliae Kleb., and was demonstrated to inhibit the incidence of verticillium wilt when applied to subsequently planted potato seed pieces.

The Bacillus of the present invention may be used with a variety of horticultural crops, such as tomatoes, potatoes, melons, beans, and cowpeas; field crops, such as cotton, safflower, and sunflower; fruits and nuts, such as olives, pistachios, apricots, cherries, peaches, almonds, avocadoes; and many varieties of ornamental plants. The present invention will find particular use with potatoes and cotton where the incidence of verticillium wilt is most severe.

Bacillus polymyxa 9A may be cultured and expanded by standard fermentation procedures. Prior to formulation, as described below, a slurry will be prepared from the culture medium, and the slurry dried onto a primary, agronomically-acceptable carrier, such as vermiculite, to form a concentrate.

The concentrate is then used to prepare a composition for application to the plant hosts. The compositions may include one or more effective Bacillus strains, and may be aqueous or non-aqueous formulations. Aqueous formulations include liquids having from about 10⁵ to 10⁹ cells/ml and pastes having 10¹⁰ cells/ml or greater. Non-aqueous formulations include dusts, wettable powders, emulsifiable concentrates, granules, and the like. The non-aqueous formulations will include agronomically-acceptable carriers, adjuvants and/or stimulants in a well known manner.

Depending on the type of formulation, the composition may be applied as a spray, dust, granule, or the like. The composition may be applied directly to the seed, or less desirably, to the soil surrounding the seed. Conveniently, the seeds may be dipped in an aqueous formulation prior to planting.

The following examples are offered by way of illustration, not by way of limitation.

EXPERIMENTAL

1. Isolation of Bacillus polymyxa 9A

Bacillus polymyxa 9A was isolated from a field of Russet Burbank potatoes in Aberdeen, Id., in which verticillium wilt, caused by Verticillium dahliae Kleb. (>100 propagules/g air-dried soil), was the major disease. The roots from several potato plants were removed and vigorously washed in sterile glass-distilled water and triturated in sterile mortars. The extract was serially diluted, and 0.1 ml aliquots were plated on medium 523 (Kado and Heskett (1970) Phytopathology 60:969-976). Plates were assayed for antagonists by spraying with a conidial suspension of the potato strain RB5 of Verticillium dahliae from a 5-day-old agar culture. The bacterium designated as 9A was purified and identified as Bacillus polymyxa based on criteria described in Prazmowski, A. (1880) Untersuchung uber die Entwickelungsgeschichte und Fermentwirking einiger Bacterien-Arten. Inaug. Diss., Hugo Voigt, Leipzig, pp. 1-58; Donker, H. J. L. (1926) Bijdrage tot de Kennis der Baterzuur, Butylacoholen acctonigistingen. Diss., Delft. W. D. Meinema, Delft; and Buchanan, R. E., and N. B. Biggons. (1975) Bergey's Manual of Determinative Bacteriology, 8th ed., Williams and Wilkins Company, Baltimore, Md. 12460.

Bacillus polymyxa 9A is a facultative anerobe, Gram variable rod, which occurs singly and sometimes in pairs. The bacterium is motile by peritrichous flagella and is a spore former. Maximum growth occurs at 43° C., while minimum growth occurs at 9° C. Growth is tolerant to 5% NaCl. Strain 9A will utilize the following as carbon sources: glucose, mannose, sucrose, lactose, arabinose, xylose, trehalose, inositol, mannitol, erythritol, sorbitol, cussinate, tartrate, and acetamide, while being unable to utilize ethanol, geraniol, citrate, butryate, proprionate and hippurate.

To further classify the strain, a series of biochemical tests were run. The results were as follows:

______________________________________Positive            Negative______________________________________Catalase            Cytochrome oxidaseVoges-proskauer     indolenitrate reductase   methyl redgelatin liquefaction               ureasaalpha amylase       hydrogen sulfidelevan               dextrinbeta-galactosidase  gas from trehaloseacid from arabinoseacid from xylosegas produced from glucosegas produced from lactose______________________________________

2. Antifungal spectrum

To determine the antifungal spectrum of Bacillus polymyxa 9A, the bacterium was grown for 2 days at 30° C. to a diameter of 1 cm at the center of medium 523 agar plates. The plates were then oversprayed with conidial suspensions of different fungi. For those fungi which do not produce conidial growth, agar discs containing a mycelial mat of the fungus were placed on the plate opposite the bacterial patch. Antifungal activity was demonstrated by an inhibition zone appearing around the bacterial patch or between the bacterial patch and the mycelial mat of the fungus. Baccilus polymyxa 9A was found to inhibit the growth of the following fungi.

Verticillium dahliae RB5

Verticillium dahliae 128 (olive)

Verticillium dahliae Hanford (pistachio)

Fusarium roseum RB

F. oxysporum fsp. vasinfectum California strain

Colletotrichum atramentarium Idaho strain

Thielaviopsis basicola California strain

Rhizoctonia solani Ag3

Phytophthora erythroseptica California isolate

Streptomyces scabies (Idaho isolates)

3. Effect of various antifungal bacteria on protecting Russet Burbank potatoes against Verticillium dahliae

To demonstrate the protection afforded by various antifungal bacteria against verticillium wilt of potato, stems from potato plants naturally infected with Verticillium dahliae Kleb. were air-dried and assayed to confirm the presence of verticillium propagules. The stems were then incorporated into a standard soil mix. The bacteria being tested were grown in medium 523 broth at 30° C. to a density of 10⁸ CFU/ml, harvested by centrifugation, and suspended in sterile glass distilled water. Potato tubers were cut into seed pieces, and the seed pieces were dipped in the bacterial suspensions and planted in pots containing the soil mix which had been artificially infested with the verticillium propagules. The pots were then placed on a greenhouse bench, and the resulting potato plants were rated for wilt incidence. Those plants treated with Bacillus polymyxa 9A were free from wilt, while the control plants displayed severe wilt symptoms. Potato tubers from each pot were removed and weighed. The results are set forth in Table 1.

              TABLE 1______________________________________              Mean* potatoBACTERIUM          weight (g)______________________________________Bacillus polymyxa 9A              217.26Bacillus polymyxa 9f              169.31Gluconobacter oxydans              165.54subsp. melanogenes 7Pseudomonas fluorescens 50              162.62G. oxydans-melanogenes 10              160.87P. fluorescens 80  158.06Bacillus polymyxa 5d              150.52Bacillus polymyxa SJ5S4              149.14Flavobacterium sp. 60              146.50Bacillus sp. 9B    143.31Bacillus polymyxa 5J3              139.50Control            134.50Bacillus sp. 119   130.82Bacillus sp. 120   128.52Bacillus polymyxa 5d5              127.06Bacillus polymyxa 5a              126.10Bacillus polymyxa 9t1              124.68Bacillus laterosporus IdaB              112.61Bacillus badius SJ4R6              110.92Bacillus badius 20  96.44______________________________________ *Data tested by Duncan's multiple range test for variable: Y. This test controls error rates at different levels depending on the number of means between each pair being compared. Its operating characteristics somewhat resemble Fisher's unprotecte d LSD Test. Alpha = 0.05; DF = 57; MSE = 3143.77. Some samples were zero value and these were included.

The above-desscribed procedure was followed to determine the effect of various antifungal bacteria on wilt control and yield of potatoes in the field. The bacterial inoculum contained 10¹¹ CFM/ml, and the bacterial-treated seed pieces were planted by hand in a field naturally infested with Verticillium propagules. The results, measured yield per acre at the end of the growing season, are set forth in Table 2. It was also found that the plants treated with Bacillus polymyxa 9A yielded an average of 134 Baker premium grade potatoes (large size, free of cracks and blemishes) per acre, while the control plants produced only 85 Baker premium grade potatoes per acre.

              TABLE 2______________________________________             Mean* number ofBACTERIUM         sacks per acre______________________________________Bacillus polymyxa 9A             345.57Bacillus sp. 119  300.12P. fluorescens 80 294.62Bacillus polymyxa 9f             286.20Flavobacterium 60 284.67Bacillus polymyxa 5J3             282.85Bacillus polymyxa 5a             273.25G. oxydans 7      262.65Bacillus polymyxa 9t1             260.92Bacillus polymyxa 5d5             254.55Bacillus badius 20             252.50G. oxydans 10     251.62P. fluorescens 50 250.50Bacillus polymyxa 5d             241.75Bacillus sp. 120  240.60Control           240.02Bacillus sp. 9b   237.25Bacillus polymyxa SJ5S4             236.37Bacillus laterosporus IdaB             235.37Bacillus badius SJ4R6             201.07______________________________________ *Duncan's multiple range test for variable: Y. This test controls error rates at different levels depending on the number of means between each pair being compared. Its operating characteristics somewhat resemble Fisher's unprotected LSD test. Al pha = 0.05; DF = 57; and MSE = 2752.61

4. Effect of soil temperature on persistence of Bacillus polymyxa 9A

Minimum and maximum growth temperatures of isolate 9A were determined by streaking the bacteria on medium 523 agar plates, and incubating the plates at different temperatures ranging from 0° C. to 70° C.

Soil temperatures during the growing season were determined by thermometers inserted at different depths in the soil. At a depth of 6 inches, soil temperature was found to be 26° C. for untarped soil and 41° C. for plastic (2 mil clear) tarped soil.

To determine the effect of soil temperature on bacterial populations, soil samples from both uncovered and tarped locations were removed with a soil probe. The samples were mixed with sterile glass-distilled water, and a dilution series was plated on agar medium 523 in petri plates. After incubation for 48 hours at 30° C., the number of bacteria grown on each plate was counted and their types were determined based on morphological, physiological and biochemical tests. For untarped soil, few Gram negative bacteria were present, while a greater number of Bacillus species were present. For tarped soil, the number of Bacillus species doubled, while Gram negative species were undetectable. Thus, elevating the soil temperature, either by covering, using a greenhouse, or any other technique, will encourage the growth and survival of Bacillus polymyxa 9A and promote biological control of verticillium wilt.

In accordance with the present invention, Bacillaceae are provided which confer protection from Verticillium dahliae which causes verticillium wilt. By inoculating seeds with the Bacillaceae of the present invention, substantial improvements in the quality and quantity of the resulting crops can be achieved.

Although the foregoing invention has been described in some detail by way of illustration and example for purposes of clarity of understanding, it will be obvious that certain changes and modifications may be practiced within the scope of the appended claims.