The bacterial fruit blotch, caused by the bacterium Acidovorax avenae subsp. citrulli (Aac), is responsible for great losses in melon production. The control of this disease was investigated in vivo by treating infected yellow melon seeds with fermented broths of B. subtilis R14, B. megaterium pv. cerealis RAB7, B. pumilus C116 and Bacillus sp. MEN2, with and without bacterial cells. The mechanism of action of the strains was studied in vitro by the agar diffusion technique. The bioactive compounds produced were partially characterized by hemolysis test and surfactant activity. Regarding the tests conducted in vivo there was no statistical difference between the treatments with and without bacterial cells, which indicated that the control was due to the presence of bioactive compounds produced during fermentations. All treatments were different from the control (P = 0.05%) but they did not differ among them. The B. megaterium pv. cerealis RAB7 reduced disease incidence (89.1%), disease index (92.7%), increased the incubation period from 9.8 to 11.9 days and reduced the area under disease progress curve from 3.36 to 0.17. In the in vitro tests, all strains showed antibiosis against Aac and the bioactive compounds were partially characterized as lipopeptides.
Cucumis melo; Acidovorax avenae subsp. citrulli; Bacillus subtilis; B. megaterium pv. cerealis; B. pumilus