JOURNAL OF PLANT PATHOLOGY, vol.90, no.1, pp.29-34, 2008 (SCI-Expanded)
Phytophthora blight or crown blight of peppers, caused by Phytophthora capsici Leonian, is one of the most important diseases of pepper in the eastern Mediterranean region of Turkey. The possibility to reduce disease severity using phosphate-solubilizing bacteria was investigated in growth room and field experiments. The pepper plants, inoculated with the pathogen after pre-inoculation with three phosphate-solubilizing strains of Bacillus megaterium employed alone or in combination, were monitored for growth parameters and disease severity. Inoculation with the selected strains significantly reduced disease severity in field experiments and two strains increased the yield by 36.2 and 47.7% compared to untreated controls. Bacteria were identified by fatty acid methyl ester (FAME) profiling.