Page 155 - 2025中醫藥與天然藥物聯合學術研討會-中醫藥與天然藥物的挑戰Ｘ機遇與未來大會手冊

PC-37

From genomics to metabolomics: Linking biosynthetic diversity of Bacillus

spp. to their biocontrol potential against Fusarium wilt of banana

*,1
Chin-Jung Liu, #,1,2,3 Shang-Tse Ho, Y u -Liang Yang* ,2,3

1 Department of Wood Based Materials and Design, National Chiayi University, Chiayi 600041,
Taiwan.
2 Agricultural Biotechnology Research Center, Academia Sinica, Taipei 115201, Taiwan.
3 Biotechnology Center in Southern Taiwan, Academia Sinica, Tainan 711010, Taiwan.
* E-mail: ylyang@gate.sinica.edu.tw, stho@mail.ncyu.edu.tw

Abstract
Chemical pesticides often cause environmental harm and remain ineffective against
persistent soil pathogens. Among them, Fusarium wilt of banana, caused by Fusarium
oxysporum f. sp. cubense Tropical Race 4 (Foc TR4) is particularly destructive and resistant to
conventional management. Microbial biocontrol agents provide an eco-friendly solution with
strong antifungal potential and sustainability advantages. Therefore, rhizosphere microbial
communities with pathogen-suppressive properties were investigated. Bacteria with the ability
to inhibit conidial germination and mycelial growth of Foc TR4 were initially isolated from
highly disease-suppressive organic banana soils. Figure 1 shows the confrontation phenotypes
of the selected bacterial strains against Foc TR4. These bacteria were identified, and gene
function was predicted using whole-genome sequencing, which revealed that all strains
belonged to the Bacillus genus. The metabolites of the seven strains were subsequently analyzed
by LC–MS/MS to identify bioactive compounds and examine their structures. The relationship
between phenotypic differences was investigated through integrative genomic and metabolomic
analyses. Variations in the types, structures, and abundances of antifungal secondary
metabolites among different bacillus species and strains were examined to explain differences
in inhibitory activity and phenotypic traits. These findings were further evaluated to assess their
potential as biocontrol agents.

Figure 1. The phenotype observed in the mycelial growth inhibition assay on day 4 showed that
all seven bacterial strains inhibited the growth of Foc TR4.

Keywords: Antifungal secondary metabolites; Bacillus; Biocontrol; Biosynthesis;
Metabolomics