Except for inoculation with P. digitatum for 24 h before P. polymyxa SG-6, all treatments with washed cell suspension of strain SG-6 had significant (P < 0.05) effects on the disease con- trol in wounded fruit as compared to the control (Table 1). The earlier the antagonist was inoculated or the later the pathogen was inoculated, disease incidence was decreased. Inoculation with strain SG-6 for 24 h before P. digitatum, the rate of decay
Table 1
Effect of different incubation times of Paenibacillus polymyxa strain SG-6 on con- trol of green mold decay (Penicillium digitatum) incidence and lesion diameter in wounded citrus fruit.
and lesion diameter declined to 8.3% and 1.4 mm, respectively, which were lower than other treatments. Meanwhile, inocula-
tion with strain SG-6 for 12 h before P. digitatum also showed a remarkable controlling effect by declining the rate of decay and lesion diameter to 21.7% and 9.0 mm, respectively. How- ever, the treatment inoculated with P. digitatum for 24 h before P. polymyxa SG-6 resulted in fruit that were completely rot- ted.