Pseudomonads associated with soil lumbricides as promising agents in root rod biocontrol for spring grain crops

Currently, crop yields can be increased by high farming standards which include environmentally friendly use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides, as well as their replacement by bioformulations having similar activity. That is why both search for new promising species, strains and isolates of bacterial antagonists for their potential use as biocontrol agents, and study of antifungal activity mechanisms, particularly the relationship between the activity in model tests and in agrocenoses, are relevant. The aim of this study was to estimate bacterial isolates from redworm coprolites as potential bioactive agents to control phytopathogenic fungi causing root rot of crops. The experiments were conducted in 2013-2015. In the preliminary laboratory screening for fungistatic and growth-promoting activity we selected two strains, Pseudomonas sp. GS4 and Pseudomonas sp. PhS1, and assessed their ability to decrease the growth rate of fungal colonies in Petri dish test on nutrient agar medium and to reduce seed infestation of soft wheat ( Triticum aestivum L...