Acknowledgment to Reviewers

正The editors of Pedosphere would like to sincerely acknowledge the continuous support of the following reviewers,who returned at least one review during the period from January 1, 2017 to December 31, 2017. These reviewers provide the editors with timely, thoughtful, and detailed reviews that are also enormously helpful to authors,     

Acknowledgment to the Reviewers

Abstract

Gram-positive bacterium BRF-1 isolated from the rhizosphere of root-rotten diseased soybean plants shows strong antifungal activity on plates. In the present study, the ability of BRF-1 to control brown stem rot disease and to promote plant growth was examined using soybean plants grown in pots. Brown stem rot is a severe soil-borne disease of soybean that is caused by the pathogenic fungus Phialophora gregata. Eighteen-day-old soybean seedlings were grown in a mixture of soil (40 mL) and BRF-1 suspension (10 mL) and were dipped in a suspension of P. gregata (10⁶ c.f.u. mL^?1), and the severity of the disease was judged 62 days after the fungal inoculation. Inoculation with BRF-1 at 10⁷ and 10⁸ c.f.u. mL^?1 significantly lowered the severity of the disease. Soybean seeds incubated in 100 mL of the BRF-1 suspension (2 × 10⁶ c.f.u. mL^?1) were sown in pots filled with sand, and plants were collected 7 days after emergence. The dry weight increase in shoots and roots and mineral absorption were significantly stimulated by the inoculation. These results suggest that BRF-1 might be an effective biocontrol agent to manage brown stem rot disease in soybean. The 16S rDNA sequence of BRF-1 showed high homology with sequences of Paenibacillus polymyxa strains (e.g. 99.7% identity with P. polymyxa strain WY110).