Paenibacillus strain, antifungal compounds, and methods for their use

A composition comprising a biologically pure culture of a fungicidal Paenibacillus sp. strain comprising a variant fusaricidin synthetase lacking a functional adenylation domain in the third module (FusA-A3) or a cell-free extract thereof,

• wherein the lack of a functional FusA-A3 inhibits synthesis of fusaricidins with a tyrosine or a phenylalanine at amino acid residue (3) compared to synthesis of fusaricidins by a Paenibacillus sp. strain comprising a wild-type fusaricidin synthetase;
• and
• wherein the variant fusaricidin synthetase comprises a deletion in FusA-A3 of amino acid residues that correspond to positions Asp254, Ala255, Ser258, Thr297, Leu318, Ala320, Gly341, Val349 and Cys350 of SEQ ID NO:
• 1 or Asp254, Ala255, Ser258, Thr297, Leu318, Ala320, Ala341, Val349 and Cys350 of SEQ ID NO:
• 9.