Involvement of iturin and surfactin in inhibition of a post-harvest fungal pathogen on green bell pepper

This study aimed to investigate the potential of plant-associated bacteria as bio-control agents for the green bell pepper rot lesion caused by Colletotrichum scovillei 244830. A total of 378 bacteria strains isolated from stems and leaves of healthy red chili and tomato were tested for their antagonistic potential. Isolate TS001 associated with tomato stems was identified as Bacillus spp. It was found that TS001 showed remarkable inhibition to C. scovillei 244830 in in vitro and in vivo tests. TS001 significantly reduced rot lesions (p < 0.05) of fresh green bell pepper fruits by 71.43%. Furthermore, the result of the LC-ESI-MS/MS showed that the culture broth of the strain Bacillus sp. TS001 contained iturin and surfactin homolog in No. 3S medium. TS001 exhibited the strongest antagonistic activity that effectively suppressed C. scovillei 244830 rot lesion.