ISSN: 0973-7510

E-ISSN: 2581-690X

Research Article | Open Access
Waraporn Sutthisa1 , Sasinapa Thodsarat1, Prarisa Phadankaew1, Piyatida Pimvichai1 and Rattikan Yutthasin2
1Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Mahasarakham University, Kantarawichai District, Mahasarakham Province, Thailand.
2Office of Agricultural Research and Development, Region 3, Department of Agriculture, Khon Kaen Province, Thailand.
Article Number: 11746 | © The Author(s). 2026
J Pure Appl Microbiol. 2026;20(3):2503-2519. https://doi.org/10.22207/JPAM.20.3.46
Received: 05 May 2026 | Accepted: 03 August 2026 | Published online: 01 September 2026
Issue online: September 2026
Abstract

This study aimed to identify the causal agent of cassava leaf blight in Thailand and to evaluate the biocontrol potential of Bacillus spp. isolated from the digestive tract of small millipedes. Symptomatic cassava leaves were collected from Maha Sarakham Province, Thailand, and a total of 32 bacterial isolates were obtained and classified into seven morphotypes. Pathogenicity tests revealed that isolates Mnbr-2 and Mnbr-22 induced typical leaf blight symptoms, with Mnbr-2 producing the largest lesion diameter (28.30 ± 3.50 mm) and therefore selected for further study. Based on morphological, biochemical, and 16S rRNA gene analyses, isolate Mnbr-2 was identified as a member of the genus Pantoea and was closely related to Pantoea stewartii, showing 99.75% sequence similarity. These findings provide evidence that Pantoea-associated bacteria are involved in cassava leaf blight in Thailand. The antagonistic activity of 28 Bacillus isolates against P. stewartii Mnbr-2 was evaluated using the agar well diffusion method. Several isolates, including Bacillus velezensisB. cereusB. safensis, and B. subtilis, exhibited strong inhibitory activity, with inhibition zones ranging from 25.00 ± 1.50 to 30.00 ± 5.00 mm. Cell-free culture filtrates of selected isolates also suppressed pathogen growth, showing inhibition comparable to that of streptomycin (100 ppm). Detached leaf assays demonstrated that B. cereus N5_TCR and B. velezensis N8_TCR achieved the highest disease suppression under both preventive and curative treatments, with inhibition efficiencies ranging from 91.35%-94.41%. These findings indicate that the selected Bacillus isolates possess strong antagonistic activity and may serve as promising candidates for the development of sustainable and environmentally friendly biocontrol strategies against cassava leaf blight caused by Pantoea.

Keywords

Bacillus spp., Biological Control, Cassava Leaf Blight, Pantoea stewartii, Small Millipede

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© The Author(s) 2026. Open Access. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License which permits unrestricted use, sharing, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made.