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Antibiotic Production by Bacterial Biocontrol Agents

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Submitted By lolitacuite
Words 8188
Pages 33
Antonie van Leeuwenhoek81: 537–547, 2002.
© 2002Kluwer Academic Publishers. Printed in the Netherlands.
537
Antibiotic production by bacterial biocontrol agents
Jos M. Raaijmakers

, Maria Vlami & Jorge T. de Souza
Department of Plant Sciences, Laboratory of Phytopathology, Wageningen University, Binnenhaven 5, 6709 PG
Wageningen, The Netherlands (∗
Author for correspondence)
Abstract
Interest in biological control of plant pathogens has been stimulated in recent years by trends in agriculture to-wards greater sustainability and public concern about the use of hazardous pesticides. There is now unequivocal evidence that antibiotics play a key role in the suppression of various soilborne plant pathogens by antagonistic microorganisms. The significance of antibiotics in biocontrol, and more generally in microbial interactions, often has been questioned because of the indirect nature of the supporting evidence and the perceived constraints to an-tibiotic production in rhizosphere environments. Reporter gene systems and bio-analytical techniques have clearly demonstrated that antibiotics are produced in the spermosphere and rhizosphere of a variety of host plants. Several abiotic factors such as oxygen, temperature, specific carbon and nitrogen sources, and microelements have been identified to influence antibiotic production by bacteria biocontrol agents. Among the biotic factors that may play a determinative role in antibiotic production are the plant host, the pathogen, the indigenous microflora, and the cell density of the producing strain. This review presents recent advances in our understanding of antibiotic production by bacterial biocontrol agents and their role in microbial interactions.
Introduction
For many decades, bacteria have been introduced into soil or on seeds, roots, bulbs or other planting ma-terial to improve plant growth and

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