ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Microbiol.
Sec. Microbe and Virus Interactions with Plants
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2025.1683291
This article is part of the Research TopicEndophytes as Biocontrol AgentsView all 5 articles
Biocontrol Effects of Bacillus velezensis and Bacillus subtilis Against Strawberry Root Rot Caused by Neopestalotiopsis clavispora
Provisionally accepted
Jin Ning
Tiao Ning
LU JINQiongfen LiYanfen NiuZebin Chen
Chengchou HanYilian TangChangjun DengYingying XieMingfang ZhaoXingguo Cui
Jing Li*- Kunming University, Kunming, China
Select one of your emails
You have multiple emails registered with Frontiers:
Notify me on publication
Please enter your email address:
If you already have an account, please login
You don't have a Frontiers account ? You can register here
Strawberry root rot, caused by Neopestalotiopsis clavispora, is an emerging disease that seriously threatens the sustainable development of the strawberry industry. To develop eco-friendly control strategies, three antagonistic bacterial strains were screened from healthy strawberry plants and rhizosphere soils. Based on morphological characteristics, physiological and biochemical identification, and 16S rDNA sequence analysis, the isolates QY-4 and QJ-3 were identified as Bacillus velezensis, while TT-3 was identified as Bacillus subtilis. The results indicated that the cell-free culture filtrates of QY-4, QJ-3, and TT-3 significantly inhibited the hyphal growth of N. clavispora by disrupting cell membrane integrity, with inhibition rates of 63.29%, 69.4%, and 73.57%, respectively. Volatile organic compounds produced by these strains, evaluated using the plate pair method, effectively inhibited hyphal growth through aerial diffusion with inhibition rates of 47.76%, 44.99%, and 32.44%. Broad-spectrum antagonistic activity against several phytopathogenic fungi, including Colletotrichum acutatum, Alternaria alternata, and Botrytis cinerea, was observed with inhibition rates ranging from 50.37% to 78.88%. Through the antibiotic marker method, the labeled strains were shown to translocate from roots to stems and leaves following root irrigation treatment, establishing stable colonization in both strawberry tissues and rhizosphere soils. The application of these antagonistic strains significantly alleviated root rot symptoms and markedly reduced the disease index, with values of 36.98, 42.19, and 27.92, corresponding to disease control efficiencies of 56.28%, 50.12%, and 67%, respectively. Additionally, significant enhancement of superoxide dismutase, peroxidase, and catalase was observed in leaves, indicating the induction of host resistance. These findings demonstrate the dual role of QY-4, QJ-3, and TT-3 as biocontrol agents, by combining antifungal activities with resistance induction, thus offering promising candidates for the sustainable management of strawberry root rot.
Keywords: strawberry, Strawberry root rot, Bacillus velezensis, Bacillus subtilis, Antagonisticbacteria, colonization, biological control
Received: 10 Aug 2025; Accepted: 23 Oct 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Ning, Ning, JIN, Li, Niu, Chen, Han, Tang, Deng, Xie, Zhao, Cui and Li. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Jing Li, lijing@kmu.edu.cn
Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.