Isolation and characterization of bacteriophages and evaluation of the potential as biocontrol agents of Streptomyces associated with Potato Scab

• Grant number: 21/09988-5
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Doctorate
• Start date: September 01, 2021
• End date: August 31, 2023
• Field of knowledge: Agronomical Sciences - Agronomy - Plant Health
• Principal Investigator: Suzete Aparecida Lanza Destéfano
• Grantee: Lucas Vitor
• Host Institution: Instituto Biológico (IB). Agência Paulista de Tecnologia dos Agronegócios (APTA). Secretaria de Agricultura e Abastecimento (São Paulo - Estado). São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• Associated research grant: 17/50334-3 - Institutional research development plan (PDIp): modernization and adequacy of strategic multi-user units of the Instituto Biológico, AP.PDIP

Abstract

Potato Scab is a disease of wide spread occurrence in producing regions of Brazil, becoming a limiting factor in the cultivation of this crop. This disease affects the quality of the product due to lesions on the tuber surface, which reduce its commercial value or impede its commercialization. Different species of the genus Streptomyces are responsible for this disease and the survey of pathogenic species present in the country is a key factor for carrying out measures of management. Thus, a set of measures must be adopted as a preventive strategy and among these we can mention the use of certified healthy seeds, disease-free planting areas, crop rotation and irrigation management. In the current period, where areas are increasingly scarce and cultivated frequently, the producer is hardly able to carry out all these measures, causing the disease to become uncontrolled. The use of bacteriophages to control agricultural diseases is an area of study that has been gaining ground for new discussions, being successfully presented in integrated pest and disease management strategies. The relative ease of preparing phages for use in the field makes them good candidates for extensive use in developing countries. For Potato Scab there are few reports in the literature, but with promising results to make the use of this methodology a tool consolidated to enter the management of this disease. The present work aims to isolate and characterize the phages involved, determine the ideal multiplicity of infection and propagation thereof, carry out in vitro and in vivo tests of the phages on Streptomyces spp. phytopathogenics and, finally, to evaluate bacteriophage activity enhancers to, with this, create an unprecedented methodology for the use of bacteriophages in the control of Potato Scab present in cultivated areas in Brazil. The pathogenic Streptomyces strains in this study will be provided by the Phytobacteria Culture Collection of the Instituto Biologico (IBSBF), Campinas, SP. The phages will be isolated from soils at the Advanced Center for Research in Plant Protection and Animal Health (CAPSA), Instituto Biológico, Campinas (SP) by the method described by Kieser et al. (2000), following the modifications presented by Goyer (2005). (AU)