Antagonistic activity of some Herbaspirillum species against phytopathogenic micromycetes

A common problem of agriculture is damage from infectious plant diseases caused mainly by plant-pathogenic Alternaria, Helminthosporium, Cladosporium, and Fusarium. Fusariosis is a harmful, widespread worldwide disease caused by Fusarium species, which leads not only to a decrease in yield but also to a deterioration in its quality as a result of the accumulation of mycotoxin waste products of fungi that are hazardous to human and animal health. Biocontrol is an environm entally friendly approach to using microorganisms to control plant diseases. The use of antagonists is one of the ways to reduce the harmfulness of phytopathogens. Interest in such organisms has increased in recent decades due to the accumulation of negative consequences from the long-term use of chemical protection agents with a lack of organic fertilizers. The paper presents the results of assessing the biological activity of collection strains of bacteria of the genus Herbaspirillum with field strains of filamentous fungi of the genus Fusarium. Based on the primary screening of representatives of different species of Herbaspirillum for antagonism against natural isolates of Fusarium by the method characterizing their bio-fungicidal activity. The results of this work can be used in environmentally friendly, highly productive, and competitive biopreparations in adaptive farming, capable of controlling the Fusarium of the most important crops and activating plant defence systems.