Suppressive potential of chitosan and Paenibacillus polymyxa against Fusarium verticillioides isolated from maize (Zea mays L.) in vitro

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Department of Crop Protection, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Khartoum, Khartoum, Sudan

2 Agricultural Research Corporation, Sudan.

Abstract

Ear rot, caused by Fusarium verticillioides (Sacc.), is one of the most destructive diseases affecting maize worldwide. This study aimed to evaluate the antifungal activity of chitosan and Paenibacillus strains as potential biocontrol agents against F. verticillioides under in vitro conditions. The pathogen was initially isolated from infected maize seeds and identified based on morphological and molecular characteristics. To assess the antifungal effects, three concentrations of chitosan (1, 3, and 5 mg/mL) and six Paenibacillus polymyxa strains (P1, P2, P4, P6, P7, and P8) were tested against the mycelial growth of F. verticillioides. The experiments were conducted using a completely randomized design, and the collected data were analyzed using an analysis of variance. Chitosan exhibited vigorous antifungal activity, achieving complete (100%) inhibition of mycelial growth at concentrations of 3 and 5 mg/ml and a 93.40% inhibition at 1 mg/ml. All Paenibacillus strains demonstrated inhibitory effects, with inhibition rates of 28.7%, 17.8%, 47.5%, 18.4%, 2.3%, and 42.6% for the strains P1, P2, P4, P6, P7, and P8, respectively. These findings suggest that chitosan, in particular, has strong antifungal properties and holds promise as an eco-friendly alternative to synthetic fungicides for managing F. verticillioides in maize.

Keywords

Journal of Advances in Plant Protection
Volume 2, Issue 2
December 2025
Pages 11-20

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