These RABs were observed to inhibit the sclerotial
germination of R. solani on potato dextrose agar and the lesion development on
detached rice leaves by artificial inoculation of R. solani. These antagonistic RABs also significantly
suppressed the disease development of sheath blight and bacterial panicle blight
in a field condition, suggesting that they can be potential biological control agents for these
rice diseases. However, these antagonistic RABs showed diminished disease suppression
activities in the repeated field trial conducted in the following year probably due to their
reduced antagonistic activities to the pathogens during the long-term storage in -70C,