Potential Sustainable Antagonistic Biocontrol Strategy Against Xanthomonas vesicatoria

In agroecosystems, bacterial antagonism is an alternative to agrochemicals, which are a threat to the environment and global health. From this perspective, a collection of environmental bacterial isolates was tested for their potential as antagonists against the phytopathogenic bacterium Xanthomonas vesicatoria, which is one of the etiological agents of bacterial spot in tomato and pepper. The isolates with the greatest in vitro antagonistic activity were selected for ex vivo assays using tomato plant leaves and further characterized for their capacity to produce hydrolytic enzymes. The results revealed promising prospects for an antagonism-based X. vesicatoria biocontrol against bacterial spot disease, thus favouring more sustainable agricultural production.