Biological control of fumonisins production in maize at field level

Abstract

The control of Fusarium verticillioides (Sacc.) Niremberg colonization in maize has become an area of interest in crop safety production. In the present study, biological control of F. verticillioides with a formulation of Bacillus amyloliquefaciens and Microbacterium oleovorans was evaluated. Maize seeds were inoculated with a freeze-dried formulation of biocontrol agents and grown in the field. The pathogen incidence and fumonisin accumulation in harvested grain was determined. The number of viable propagules of F. verticillioides obtained from the analysis of kernels of treatments with both biocontrol agents did not differ from values obtained from kernels of naturally infected plants and from plants obtained from seeds inoculated with the pathogen. Fumonisin B1 concentrations in maize were significantly reduced by biocontrol agents. Treatments with M. oleovorans produced a reduction of more than 70% and B. amyloliquefaciens a reduction of more than 50%. Therefore, the addition of these formulations could significantly improve the quality of maize and also offers the advantage of working with a biological product that does not harm the environment.