Antagonisitic Potential of Soil Bacteria Against Food Borne Fungi

Bacteria are able to synthesis a wide range of metabolites with fungicidal capabilities. The antagonistic potential of soil bacterial strains (E. coli, Baccillus fortis, B. faragiris, Pseudomonas flourescence and P. malophilia) was assessed by the dual culture technique against some food pathogenic fungi, i.e. Aspergillus flavus, A. niger, Penicillium italicum and P. simplicissmum. The result indicated that bacterial species exhibited varying degree of biocontrol potential against all tested fungi. Out of five bacterial species, E. coli showed effective biocontrol potential against all tested fungi with reduction of 82-96% in fungal colony diameter. Escherichia coli showed almost complete inhibition against pathogenic fungi such as Aspergillus niger, A. flavus whereas Bacillus fortis was least effective. The experimental results exhibit the antifungal activity of bacterial species and indicate the possibility of using these bacterial species as antifungal agents against these fungal species.