CALLUS AND MICROBE CO-CULTURE AS A NOVEL SOURCE OF BIOPESTICIDES AGAINST FUSARIUM WILT OF SOLANACEOUS CROPS

摘要

One of the major plant diseases facing our farmers is Fusarium oxysporum. Fusarium oxysporum is the causal organism of vascular wilt of many economically-important crops like tomato, eggplant and hot pepper. To search for potential sources of biopesticide that will inhibit Fusarium oxysporum, crude methanol extracts of 80 callus and microbe co-cultures are screened using the microdilution MIC assay. Among the co-cultures tested, a co-culture consisting of Solanum tuberosum callus and a fungus showed the highest inhibitory activity against the pathogen with an MIC=500 mg/mL. The present invention relates to a novel biopesticide formulated from callus and microbe co-culture and was named 'WiltCure'.