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Antagonism of Lactic Acid Bacteria against Phytopathogenic Bacteria
R Visser1, W H Holzapfel, J J Bezuidenhout
1Department of Microbiology and Plant Pathology. University of Pretoria, 0002 Pretoria, South Africa.
Abstract:
A variety of lactic acid bacteria, isolated from plant surfaces and plant-associated products, were found to be antagonistic to test strains of the phytopathogens Xanthomonas campestris, Erwinia carotovora, and Pseudomonas syringae. Effective "in vitro" inhibition was found both on agar plates and in broth cultures. In pot trials, treatment of bean plants with a Lactobacillus plantarum strain before inoculation with P. syringae caused a significant reduction of the disease incidence.
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