of Pseudomonas fluorescens 2112 Inhibits Phytophthora capsici, a Red-Pepper Blight-Causing Fungus

A bacterium, Pseudomonas fluorescens 2112, that is antagonistic against a red-pepper blight-causing fungus, Phytophthora capsici, was isolated from the local soil of Gyongju, Korea. This strain formed an orange-colored clear halo zone on chrome azurol S (CAS) blue agar, suggesting the production of a siderophore in addition to an antifungal antibiotic. The optimal culture conditions for siderophore production by P. fluorescens 2112 were 30-h cultivation at $25^{\circ}C$ and pH 6.5 in King's B medium. The presence of $20{\mu}g/ml\;of\;Fe^3+$ ion or EDDHA promoted the production of siderophore in King's B medium. The siderophore was purified from culture broth by CM-Sephadex C-25 and Sephadex G-25 column chromatographies. The UV spectra of the purified siderophore was the same as that of pyoverdins or pseudobactins. The molecular mass was 1,958 Da determined by FAB-rlass spectrometer, and the amino acid composition analysis showed that the purified siderophore consisted of glycine/threonine/serine/glutamic acid/alanine/lysine with the molar ratio of 3:2:1:1:1:1, DL-Threo-${\beta}$-hydroxyaspartic acid and $N^{\delta}$-hydroxyornithine, two of the essential constituents of pyoverdin, were also found. The purified siderophore pyoverdin showed strong in vitro and in vivo antagonistic activities against phytophthora blight-causing P. capsici. Especially in an in vivo pot test, the siderophore protected red-pepper Capsicum annum L. very well from the attack of P. capsici. These results indicated that the purified siderophore of P. fluorescens 2112 played a critical role in the biocontrol of the red-pepper blight disease, equivalent to treatment by P.fluorescens 2112 cells.