Isolation and Characterization of Endophytic Bacillus methylotrophicus LH-L3 Antagonist of Cotton Verticillium Wilt

The aim of this study is to obtain endophytic Bacillus with control effect on cotton Verticillium wilt. [Method] The cotton tissue grinding liquid was heated at 80 ℃, and spread onto the Luria-Bertani ager medium. The strains with better inhibitory effects on Verticillium dahliae Vd084, a strain with strong pathogenicity, was identified by the morphology, physiological and biochemical traits as well as 16S rRNA, gyrB and rpoB sequences, and its control effect on cotton Verticillium wilt was determined by pot experiments. [Result] 61 similar Bacillus strains were isolated from cotton plants. Among them, 17 strains could inhibit Verticillium dahliae Vd084. A strain named LH-L3 with a relatively higher antagonistic activity and a broad inhibition spectrum was obtained in the second screening. LH-L3 was classified into Bacillus methylotrophicus. Compared with the control, the emergence rate, plant height, root length, fresh weight of aerial part and underground part of cotton with 106 mL^－1 LH-L3 suspension drenching for 3 times increased by 42.85%, 10.24%, 23.83%, 10.05% and 97.62%, respectively. And control effect on Verticillium wilt was 85.24%. [Conclusion] LH-L3 had good growth promotion and Verticillium wilt control effects and showed good potential for biological control.