In order to determine whether live bacteria have any inhibitory
effects on production of P. capsici sporangia, suspension of bacterial
cells were added to the Nunc multi-dishes containing nutrient
starved mycelia agar block. Bacterial cells were separated by
repeated centrifugation of bacterial isolate grown in nutrient broth
for 7 days. The pelleted bacterial cells were washed three times by
sterile water and then suspended into water to obtain the suspension
containing 1108 cfu/ml from which 500 μl was transferred
in to a multi-dish containing a small (1.5 cm i.d.) block of P.
capsici mycelia followed by incubating the dish in dark for 3 days.
After 3 days of incubation, the sporangia formed on hyphal tips
were observed under a light microscope and the number was
counted. A control treatment using sterile water instead of live
bacteria was used. Data on four microscopic fields were collected,
averaged for each replication and compared with untreated control.
Each treatment was repeated three times