Pseudomonas strains and consortia thereof for use in protection against plant diseases

Abstract

The present invention relates Pseudomonas strains and consortia thereof that are useful in protecting plants against microbial plant diseases caused by pathogens such as Ralstonia, Clavibacter, Erwinia, Curtobacterium, Fusarium, Phytophthora and Helminthosporium. The Pseudomonas strains were selected on the basis of their antagonistic abilities against plant pathogens such as production of antimicrobial compounds, direct inhibition of growth of plant pathogens, competition of carbon or nitrogen sources and endophytic features such as anaerobic growth on nitrate as electron acceptor and growth on arabinose as carbon source. The invention further relates to compositions comprising the strains or consortia of the invention, preferably lyophilized compositions, and to methods wherein they are used in protecting a wide variety of plants against a wide variety of microbial plant diseases.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.