Benha University

eman abd elrahman mohamed elakshar

Lecturer

Faculty of Agriculture MICROBIOLOGY

Endophytic chitinase and antifungal metabolites-producing actinobacteria for biological control of cucumber damping off disease

Journal of Plant Pathology • 2025
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Publication Information
Authors El-Akshar, E.A.;
Keywords Endophytic actinobacteria · Streptomyces · Root-rot · Chitinase · Antagonistic activity · Cucumber · Pathogenic fungi · Plant growth regulators
Journal Journal of Plant Pathology
Publisher Springer
Volume 107
Issue https://doi.org/10.1007/s42161-024-01790-1
Pages 469–490,
publication.type International
Paper Link Open Link
Supplementary Materials Not Available
Abstract
Fungal infections cause heavy losses to plants and are usually controlled using common fungicides, which cause environmental pollution and aect health. Thus, the study aims to isolate and identiy the highly active chitinolytic endophytic
actinomycetes from healthy cucumber plants and evaluate their biological activity against soil-borne pathogenic fungi
as alternative eco-friendly fungicides. Thirty-four actinomycetes isolates were screened for chitinase activity, antifungal activity against Fusarium solani and Rhizoctonia solani, and their ability to produce siderophores, ammonia, and
hydrogen cyanide. The best performance Streptomyces isolates, ER15 and ES55, showed a reduced fungal mycelium at
88 and 86%, respectively. The most efcient isolates, ER15 and ES55, were identied using biochemical and molecular
techniques. According to the 16 S rRNA gene, ER15 was identied as Streptomyces enissocaesilis, and ES55 was identi-
ed as Streptomyces rochei. Scanning electron microscopy showed that S. enissocaesilis and S. rochei degrade the fungal
mycelia. A greenhouse experiment evaluated the eectiveness o endophytic strains S. enissocaesilis, and S. rochei, as
plant resistance inducers against F. solani and R. solani infected cucumber. The study found that inoculating cucumber
with Streptomyces strains colonized cucumber roots endophytically, increased the survival rates to 98–100%, suppressed
pathogenic activities, and amplied microbial activities such as increasing chitinase by 6 old, dehydrogenase (DHA)
by 5.5 fold, peroxidase, and polyphenol oxidase compared to control. Thus, improved NPK uptake in cucumber shoots
improved growth performance and yield. It can be concluded that Streptomyces enissocaesilis and S. rochei are promising biological control agents against soil-borne pathogens as eco-friendly fungicides. Also, these endophytic strains are
benecial or crop production in nutrient-poor soils
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