Suresh Deka
Institute of Advanced Study in Science and Technology, India
Title: Application of biosurfactant for general welfare of economically important crops with special reference to management of phytopathogenic fungi
Biography
Biography: Suresh Deka
Abstract
The human population in the globe is increasing day by day. However, the land for the agriculture is decreasing with the
increasing human population. To meet the growing demands for food, agricultural production has become a matter of great
concern for all the countries. For increasing the agricultural product, agrochemicals have been used tremendously. Widespread
use of these agrochemicals cause great harm to the soil health and make the soil unproductive in the long run. To overcome the
problems, research is going on to search non-hazardous alternatives against the agrochemicals. Biosurfactant is a surface active
microbial metabolite and belongs to various classes including glycolipids, lipopeptides, fatty acids, phospholipids, neutral lipids
and lipopolysaccharides. Th e unique properties of biosurfactant have recently attracted the attention of industries to become
a possible replacement to the synthetic chemical pesticides. Biosurfactant has aspecial advantage over the chemicals being
used as they are less toxic, highly biodegradable and exhibit better environmental compatibility. Keeping this in mind, a study
was undertaken to explore the prospective application of biosurfactant isolated from native bacterial strains as an antifungal
agent against some plant pathogenic fungi. For that, a range of bacteria were isolated from hydrocarbon contaminated soil
and screened for the ability to produce biosurfactant. Th e effi cacy of the produced biosurfactants was tested in vitro as well as
in planta against some important fungal plant pathogens. Results revealed that the biosurfactant produced by the bacterium
Pseudomonas aeruginosa strain JS29 could effi ciently control the plant pathogen Colletotrichum capsici, the causal organism of
anthracnose diseases of chili and Alternaria solani, the causal organism of early blight in Tomato; P. aeruginosa strain DS9 could
control Fusarium sacchari, the causal organism of Pokkah boeng disease of sugarcane and Colletotrichum falcatum, the causal
organism of red rot of sugarcane and P. aeruginosa strain SS14 could control Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. pisi,causal organism
of Fusarium wilt of pea and Fusarium verticillioides, causal organism of stalk and ear rot of maize. Th e biosurfactants were
identifi ed as rhamnolipids. Th e rhamnolipids produced by the bacterial strains could be used to control the causal organisms
of the diseases effi ciently, which could lead to the development of an alternative, ecofriendly, cost eff ective and viable biopesticide
against these plant pathogenic fungi.