Molecular identification and biological control of from wilt of papaya by natural compounds and : An integrated experimental and computational study.

is a harmful pathogen that causes severe wilt disease in several vegetables. In the present study, we identified from wilt of papaya by 16S rRNA PCR amplification. Virulence ability of was determined by amplification of approximately 1500 bp clear band of gene. Further, seed germination assay showed that reduced the germination rate up to 26.21%, 34% and 33.63% of cucumber, bottle guard and pumpkin seeds, respectively whereas shoot and root growth were also significantly decreased. Moreover, growth inhibition of was recorded using antibacterial compound from medicinal plant and antagonistic Petroleum ether root extract of showed highest 22 ± 0.04 mm diameter of zone of inhibition where methanolic extract of and ethanolic extract of exhibited 20 ± 0.06 mm and 20 ± 0.01 mm zone of inhibition against , respectively In addition, bioactive compounds of inhibited growth by generating 17 ± 0.09 mm zone of inhibition. To unveil the inhibition mechanism, we adopted chemical-protein interaction network and molecular docking approaches where we found that, rutin from interacts with citrate (Si)-synthase and dihydrolipoyl dehydrogenase of with binding affinity of -9.7 kcal/mol and -9.5 kcal/mol while quercetin from interacts with the essential protein F0F1 ATP synthase subunit alpha of the with binding affinity of -6.9 kcal/mol and inhibit the growth of . Our study will give shed light on the development of eco-friendly biological control of wilt disease of papaya.