Antagonistic potential of endophytic bacterial consortia against sheath blight pathogen in rice

Abstract Rhizoctonia solani Kuhn is a pathogenic fungus that causes sheath blight disease in rice plants. One alternative method to control sheath blight disease caused by R. solani Kuhn is the use of an endophytic bacterial consortium. The consortium method can enhance the ability of endophytic bacteria to suppress the development of plant diseases. This study aimed to identify the best endophytic bacterial consortium for inhibiting the growth of R. solani . The research was designed using a Completely Randomized Design (CRD) consisting of 8 treatments with three replications. The consortium used was a mixture of two strains of Bacillus sp., three strains of B. cereus , three strains of Serratia marcescens, Stenotrophomonas maltophilia , and Alcaligenes faecalis. Tests were conducted using dual culture and media poisoning methods. Observed parameters included the inhibition zone, fresh weight, and dry weight of R. solani fungi. The best endophytic bacterial consortium in inhibiting the growth of R. solani was Consortium G (A. faecalis AJ14 + S. marcescens AR1 + S. maltophilia KJKB) with inhibition rates of 54.28% and 88.10%.