In vitro ACTIVITY OF Bacillus spp. ON MYCELIAL GROWTH INHIBITION OF Fusarium equiseti AND Fusarium solani ISOLATED FROM HABANERO PEPPERS (Capsicum chinense Jacq.)

Fusarium can induce wilt in habanero peppers (Capsicum chinense Jacq.), it is frequently found in the soil and in various plant species and the use of systemic fungicides is common for it's control. This disease demands research focused on decreasing the use of fungicides that favor the permanence of resistant populations of plant pathogens and pollute the environment. Antagonists Bacillus species are an alternative for plant pathogen control, such as Fusarium spp., causing fungal etiologies in crops such as the habanero peppers. The objective of this study was to evaluate the in vitro activity of Bacillus spp. on inhibiting mycelial growth of Fusarium equiseti and F solani, which cause wilting in habanero peppers, in direct confrontations and by using cellfree filtrates to inhibit conidia germination. These allow to detect the presence of the genes responsible for directing the lipopeptides synthesis involved in antifungal activity. Our hypothesis was that at least one strain of Bacillus spp. inhibits F equiseti and F solani, and is possible to detect at least one gene for lipopeptid synthesis. The experimental design was completely randomized with four replications. All antagonists inhibited the mycelial growth of F equiseti (2.15 to 71.55 %) and F solani (3.76 to 69.16 %). Filtrates of Bacillus subtilis CBRF8 inhibited 100 % conidia germination. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplified three fragments of the genes: bamC, ituA and sfp which correspond to bacillomycin D, iturin A and surfactin.