Seed Priming with Rhizospheric : A Smart Strategy for Reducing Fumonisin Contamination in Pre-Harvest Maize.

Maize, one of the most important cereal crops in Bangladesh, is severely contaminated by fumonisin, a carcinogenic secondary metabolite produced by including . Biocontrol with strains is an effective approach to controlling this as has proven antagonistic properties against this fungus. Therefore, the present study aimed to determine how native strains can reduce fumonisin in maize cultivated in Bangladesh, where BDISO76MR () strains showed the highest efficacy both in vitro in detached cob and in planta under field conditions. The BDISO76MR strain could reduce the fumonisin concentration in detached cob at 98.52% over untreated control, by inhibiting the conidia germination and spore formation of . at 61.56% and 77.01%, respectively in vitro. On the other hand, seed treatment with formulated BDISO76MR showed higher efficacy with a reduction of 97.27% fumonisin contamination compared to the in planta cob inoculation (95.45%) over untreated control. This implies that -based formulation might be a potential approach in mitigating fumonisin contamination in maize to ensure safe food and feed.