Investigation of Means of Biological Control of Diaporthe foeniculina , a Fruit Rot Agent in Lemon

Biological control is successfully applied against fungal diseases that agricultural products are exposed to in the process from the production stage to reaching the consumer. The aim of this study was to determine the bacterial biological control agents that can be used against Diaporthe foeniculina of the genus Diaporthe , which is an important fungal disease agent in lemon. The aim was to investigate the antagonistic activity of 36 bacterial strains belonging to eight different genera (eight Bacillus megaterium , seven B. subtilis , three B. pumilus , two B. cereus , two Pseudomonas chlororaphis , two P. flourescens , one B. atrophaeus , three Pantoea agglomerans , one Agrobacterium radiobacter , one Brevibacillus brevis , one B. choshinensis , one Kluyvera cryocrescens , one Kocuri rosea , one Paenibacillus macerans , one P. putida and one unidentified), which were isolated from different plants and to determine antagonistic activity against D. foeniculina ET 88 isolate in in vitro conditions. According to the in vitro test results, these bioagent bacterial strains inhibited mycelial growth of D. foeniculina between 17.86 and 89.29%. TV 53D strain of B. choshinensis (89.29%) was the most effective, followed by TV 6F strain (86.90%) of B. subtilis , FDG 37 strain (86.90%) of P. fluorescens and A 16 strain (82.74%) of A. radiobacter . This study will make a significant contribution to the literature as it is the first biological control study against D. foeniculina . In future studies, it is of great importance to test effective bioagent bacterial strains on lemon fruits under different storage conditions and to develop commercial preparations of effective bacterial strains.