. The current
method to protect against this disease has been through the
application of synthetic fungicides, but alternative methods to
combat this disease could potentially be less harmful to human
health and the environment. One such method has already
achieved considerable success utilizing antagonism [3], in which
naturally occurring nonpathogenic microorganisms reduce the
activity of plant pathogens and thereby suppress diseases. Bacillus
spp., a potential antagonistic bacterium, has been applied to
control anthracnose in many plants [4]. Being pervasive in most
soils, Bacillus spp. is highly thermally tolerant, capable of rapid
growing in liquid culture and easy forming resistant spores, hence
it is considered to be a safe biological agent. Therefore, the use of
this bacterial species shows great potential in being as a biocontrol
agent. However, the mechanism by which it can suppress plant
pathogens has not been extensively investigated. In this study,
we developed a novel way to identify gene involved in the bacterial antagonism to the fungal infection of ornamental crops by using low-energy ion beam bombardment of Bacillus spp. bacteria to induce
mutation and screening useful phenotypes which could be
used for gene selection and cloning in order to investigate the
antagonistic property of Bacillus licheniformis on Anthracnose, a
disease caused by Colletotrichum musae (C. musae) in Curcuma
alismatifolia Gagnep.