Biocontrol of Plant Diseases by Bacillus subtilis Basic and Practical Applications New Directions in Organic & Biological Chemistry Series

Plant diseases are a serious threat to food production. This unique volume provides the fundamental knowledge and practical use of B.subtilis as a promising biocontrol agent. In order to replace chemical pesticides, one possibility is microbial pesticides using safe microbes. Bacillus subtilis is one of several candidates. Screening of the bacterium, the application of plant tests, clarification of its suppressive mechanism to plant pathogens and engineering aspects of suppressive peptides production are presented here. The author illustrates how B. subtilis is far more advantageous than, for example, Pseudomonas in biocontrol and can be considered as an useful candidate.

Features:

Preface

Author

Chapter 1 Introduction

Chapter 2 In Vitro Selection of B. subtilis as a Candidate of Biocontrol Agent and Characterization of Suppressive Products

Chapter 3 In Vivo Plant Tests

Chapter 4 Stability of B. subtilis and Its Derivative Strains in Soil

Chapter 5 Development of Transformation Methods of B. subtilis and Cloning of Genes Responsible for Biosynthesis of Lipopeptide Antibiotics

Chapter 6 Genetic Analysis of B. subtilis Related with Production of Three Peptide Substances

Chapter 7 Optimization Study of Production of Antifungal Substances and Spores in Submerged Fermentation (SmF) or in Solid-State Fermentation (SSF)

Chapter 8 Surfactin Production and Plasmid Stability

Chapter 9 Co-Use of B. subtilis with Chemical Pesticide

Chapter 10 Mixed Culture Effect on Biocontrol

Chapter 11 Practical Application of B. subtilis in Fruit Gardens for Biocontrol of Diseases

Chapter 12 Conclusions

The author, Dr. M. Shoda, started his academic career with undergraduate, and graduate courses in Biochemical Engineering at the University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan. His Ph.D. thesis was on the modeling and computer simulation of product inhibition in microbial reactions under the supervision of Professor S. Aiba, who was a pioneer in Biochemical Engineering. This work on the introduction of computers to modeling was the first trial in the microbial world, and his scientific paper received 40th Anniversary Award for Papers with Special Impact on Biotechnology (John Wiley and Sons, Inc.).

As assistant professor at Nagoya University, he gained experience in basic biochemistry and microbiology under the supervision of the late Professor S. Udaka, who was famous as the pioneer of producing amino acids using microbial reactions. He then moved to Tokyo Institute of Technology, where he concentrated on environmental biotechnology based on basic genetics and biochemistry, as well as computer control. As Director of the Research Laboratory of Resources Recycling Process, he supervised numerous graduate students who contributed to this book. He published more than 250 scientific papers, regarding isolation of several new microorganisms, including a new fungus that decomposes many toxic and colored chemicals by producing different unique enzymes, and a bacterium that converts ammonia directly to N2 gas without using conventional nitrification and denitrification processes at a 100-fold higher rate than the conventional method. He is active in research and application of microbial reactions as Professor Emeritus at Tokyo Institute of Technology.