Inhibition of vomitoxin-producing Fusarium graminearum by marine actinomycetes and the extracellular metabolites

Fusarium graminearum is the main pathogen of Fusarium head blight on wheat and the toxic vomitoxin-producing species. Thirty-six strains of marine actinomycetes, isolated from the sea mud of Yellow Sea, were used for the screening of activity against F. graminearum by co-culture plate assay and agar diffusion method. Nine strains showed the inhibitory activity against the mycelia growth of F. graminearum both on PDA plate and on GS plate in co-culture plate assay, the corresponding inhibition rate were 52.5~70% and 58.3~77.1%, respectively. They also showed the activity in the agar diffusion method. The inhibitory activity of chloroform extract from the fermentation broth of strain MA01 is significantly higher than that of ethyl acetate extract in tip culture assay. The results suggest that marine actinomycete strain MA01 and its metabolites have the potential use for developing biocontrol agents for Fusarium head blight and mycotoxin control.