Effect of Bacteria On Mycelial Growth With Abies nephrolepis-Related Fungi

Climate change may drive increased fungal disease risk in forests because warming temperatures, ecological disturbances may help the pathogens spread. Abies nephrolepis is an ecologically important species and is rapidly endangered in South Korea due to climate change. In this study, we aimed to investigate the possibility of biological control of A. nephrolepis-related fungi using effective microorganisms. We analyzed the effects of seven bacterial isolate combinations. Notably, Bacillus sp. and Streptomyces sp. showed a high inhibition rate of mycelial growth when co-cultivated on PDA with Alternaria sp., Pestalotiopsis sp., Phacidium sp., and Phomopsis sp., which were associated with blight, rot disease, and/or canker. The Bacillus sp. NIFoS_73 strain was the most inhibition of mycelial growth against fungal pathogens, showing 75 %, 77 %, 85 %, and 74 %, respectively. The Streptomyces sp. strain NIFoS_3ND showed inhibition of the mycelial growth, 62 %, 76 %, 58 %, and 70 %, respectively. Therefore, our results demonstrate that the Bacillus sp. strain NIFoS_73 and the S. lactacystinicus strain NIFoS_ 3ND have the potential to be utilized to control the fungal pathogens that cause disease in Abies nephrolepis.