Plasmid borne gene of <i style="">Bacillus pumillus</i> MTCC 7615 responsible for fungal antagonism towards <i style="">Rhizoctonia solani</i>

Abstract

A bacterial isolate, <i style="">Bacillus pumillus </i>MTCC7615, obtained from rice field was characterized as antagonistic against the fungal pathogen, <i style="">Rhizoctonia solani</i>, under <i style="">in vitro</i> conditions in previous studies in the lab. The present study aims at using the IPCR approach for identification of <i>B. pumillus </i>MTCC7615 gene(s) responsible for antagonism towards the fungal pathogen, <i style="">R. solani, </i>by analysis of its mutant <i>B. pumillus</i> A1a. <i>B. pumillus </i>MTCC7615 may be harbouring more than one biocontrol gene on genomic and/or plasmid DNA. The sequence data of the identified plasmid-borne gene (GenBank, NCBI accession GU126748.1) showed extensive homology with conserved hypothetical protein of <i style="">Selenomonas flueggei</i> and other related bacteria. There is a need for understanding the molecular mechanism of the biological control approach (BCA) to develop transgenics that are resistant to various biotic stresses.