Detection of the Colonization Ability of Antagonistic Bacteria Strain Z-5 against Cotton Verticillium Wilt

The first step in the biological control of plant diseases is to determine whether antagonistic microorganisms can colonize successfully the plant rhizosphere soil. Bacillus Z-5 was isolated from cotton plant soil and showed a significant biocontrol effect on cotton Verticillium wilt. The strain Z-5 was marked with resistance to rifampicin and pathogenic fungi. A Z-5 mutant strain that could stably grow in 300 μg·mL^-1 rifampicin NA medium and had wild-type antagonistic activity against pathogen fungi, colony morphology, and cell morphology was selected. The marked strain Z-5 was used to treat cotton seeds by seed soaking, seed dressing, and soil drench. The number of Z-5 cells in cotton plant root soil, roots, stems, and leaves was tested using dilution on rifampicin plate after different periods. The result showed that the number of antagonistic bacteria of soil drench group in cotton plant root soil was 49.72×10⁴ cfu·g^-1, while seed soaking and seed dressing groups yielded about 0.49×10⁴ and 2.07×10⁴ cfu·g^-1. The number of antagonistic bacteria of the soil drench group in cotton plant roots was 4.93×10⁴ cfu·g^-1, while the seed soaking and seed dressing group yielded 4.12×10⁴ and 3.29×10⁴ cfu·g^-1.The number of antagonistic bacteria of the soil drench group in cotton stems was 1.32×10⁴ cfu·g^-1, while the seed soaking and seed dressing group yielded 0.17×10⁴ and 0.74×10⁴ cfu·g^-1. The number of antagonistic bacteria of soil drench group in cotton leaves was 0.27×10⁴ cfu·g^-1, while seed soaking and seed dressing group yielded 0.17×10⁴ and 0.22×10⁴ cfu·g^-1. These results showed that the Z-5 strain could effectively colonize cotton roots soil and that in vivo , the soil drench group showed a better colonization effect by the strain Z-5 than the seed soaking and seed dressing group.