Find in Library

In Bangladesh, <i>Fusarium proliferatum</i> is a prevalent pathogen of maize plants that poses a significant threat to human health and livestock by producing carcinogenic fumonisin. However, the use of the <i>Bacillus</i> species, which can colonize the infected plant parts, has been practiced globally to mitigate fumonisin contamination in maize. In this study, <i>B. subtilis</i> MMM1, a native isolate from the maize rhizosphere, was found to be the most effective antagonist against <i>F. proliferatum,</i> which reduced their mycelial growth and total fumonisin accumulation by 85.31% and 85.12%, respectively, over control through a fivefold reduction in fungal population (1.1 × 10⁴ CFU/g maize grain) in vitro. Furthermore, out of the five bacilli used in this study, <i>B. subtilis</i> MMM1 was able to increase the root and, shoot length, and the vigor index of maize seedlings, by colonizing the fresh roots at 82 × 10⁶ CFU/g root tissue. This suggests that <i>B. subtilis</i> MMM1 might be put forth both as a biocontrol agent and a plant growth promoter in Bangladesh to combat <i>F. proliferatum</i>. Nevertheless, evaluation of its efficacy in reducing fumonisin contamination in maize should be investigated under field conditions.