Termite–gut-associated actinomycetes as biological control agents against phytopathogen Pyrrhoderma noxium
Cherrihan Adra A , Harrchun Panchalingam A and D. İpek Kurtböke A *A School of Science, Technology and Engineering, University of the Sunshine Coast (UniSC), Maroochydore BC, Qld 4558, Australia.
Cherrihan Adra is one of the UniSC graduates with first class Honours. She also holds a BSc in the Science Program where she majored in Chemistry and minored in Microbiology. She is now continuing with this research by conducting her PhD with Dr İpek Kurtböke relating to the application of actinomycetes as biological control agents through investigating their bioactive secondary metabolites. |
Harrchun Panchalingam has recently completed his PhD under Dr Kurtböke’s supervision. He is an international student from Sri Lanka and holds BSc from Monash University Malaysia and MSc from University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka. His PhD project involved assessment of Trichoderma and actinomycetes spp. to control Pyrrhoderma noxium infections of heritage fig trees in Brisbane. Currently he is working as research assistant at (UniSC). His research interests are biological control of plant diseases, development of biofertilizers and bioremediation of hydrocarbons. |
Dr D. İpek Kurtböke is currently a senior lecturer at the University of the Sunshine Coast (UniSC) in Australia conducting research in applied, industrial and environmental microbiology. She is an internationally reputed actinomycetologist and she has been in the field of biodiscovery since 1982 conducting research into discovery of novel and potent therapeutic compounds produced by actinomycetes in Turkey, Italy, the UK, and Australia with leading pharmaceutical companies. She has been an Executive Board member of the World Federation of Culture Collections (WFCC) since 2000, currently serving her second term as the President of the Federation. She is also one of the members of the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses (ICTV)’s, Bacterial Viruses Subcommittee. She has editorial duties in different journals including Marine Drugs, Diversity and Frontiers Marine Science/Marine Biotechnology. |
Microbiology Australia 43(4) 190-193 https://doi.org/10.1071/MA22052
Submitted: 6 October 2022 Accepted: 19 October 2022 Published: 7 December 2022
© 2022 The Author(s) (or their employer(s)). Published by CSIRO Publishing on behalf of the ASM. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-ND)
Abstract
Brown root-rot disease is caused by phytopathogenic white-rot basidiomycete fungus, Pyyrhoderma noxium. Currently, it is causing significant issues for the Brisbane hinterland in Queensland, Australia and killing many tree species throughout the greater Metropolitan area, including park and street trees located in Shorncliffe, Taringa, New Farm, Eagle Farm, West End, Hamilton, Indooroopilly, Brisbane River, and the City Centre. Brisbane trees being attacked are figs, poinciana, jacarandas, Chinese elms, Moreton Bay eucalypts, kauris, and hoop pines and these include both public and privately owned trees. A joint study between the University of the Sunshine Coast (UniSC) and the Brisbane City Council (BCC) aimed to assess the efficacy of different biological control agents to control infections in the region. In a substudy presented here, termite gut-associated actinomycetes were evaluated to determine their antifungal abilities against the pathogen.
Keywords: actinomycetes, antifungal agents, biological control, fermentation, microbial metabolism, Pyrrhoderma noxium, Streptomyces spp., termite guts.
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