Abstract
Epiphytic microorganisms – bacteria (six strains) and molds (twenty-three strains) were isolated from wheat seeds and were co-cultured in order to estimate the bacterial effect on mold growth. The in vitro tests were done on malt agar media and after cultivation the size of mycelium was measured. The results revealed that the bacteria had inhibitory, stimulatory or no effect on the mold mycelium growth. The broadest inhibitory range showed the strain Paenibacillus xylanexedens which suppressed the growth of fourteen epiphytic mold strains isolated from wheat including the strain of Fusarium oxisporum and had an even more pronounced effect on the strain of Fusarium tricinctum. The other strain from the same genus – Paenibacillus tundrae exibitited activity against thirteen strains, stimulated the growth of eight strains and had no effect on the growth of two of the mold species. The other examined bacterial strains – Micrococcus luteus, Brachybacterium alimentarium and Janibacter anophelis/ hoylei had narrower range of inhibitory activity and suppressed the development of twelve, ten and eight mold strains respectively. The inhibitory activity of bacterial strains against some important phytopathogenic, mycotoxigenic and food born fungi makes them perspective bioactive agents with a variety of practical applications and more information for their properties warrant a further research.
Keywords: epiphytic bacteria, epiphytic molds, mycelium growth, biological activity