Evaluation of the biocontrol potential of Streptomyces goshikiensis YCXU against Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. niveum

A rhizobacterium with broad spectrum antifungal activity was isolated from the rhizosphere of a healthy cucumber plant in a Fusarium wilt diseased field. Phylogenetic tree analysis based on similarity percentage showed that the bacterium was 99% affiliated with the species Streptomyces goshikiensis. The strain, coded as S. goshikiensis YCXU, inhibited in vitro a broad range of phytopathogenic fungi, so it was selected for more detailed characterization. The strain could utilize different carbon sources and exhibited catalase, β-1,3-glucanase, chitinase and urease enzyme activities. The strain showed maximum growth at the pH of 7, temperature of 28 °C and NaCl concentration of 1%. The stain was able to produce antifungal diffusible and volatile organic compounds that significantly inhibited the growth of pathogenic fungi. In the greenhouse experiments, watermelon plants fresh and dry weights were significantly increased, and the incidence of Fusarium wilt was decreased by 67% when the strain enriched by a bioorganic fertilizer was applied to both nursery soil and pot soil (NS). The treatment NS also showed 88.9% less pathogen population in soil as compared to control. The use of biocontrol agents decreased the stress indicator enzymes and malondialdehyde content by 55–70% and 62%, respectively as compared to control. The denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) analysis showed significant variations in the fungal and bacterial community structures of all treatments resulted from UPGMA cluster analysis. This study showed that S. goshikiensis YCXU could be a potential biocontrol agent for controlling watermelon Fusarium wilt disease.