Yield loss due to root-knot nematode Meloidogyne incognita infection is reported to reach 35%, depends on factors contributing to infection. Application of several endophytic bacterial isolates (bacterial consortium) to control pathogenic infection is reported to be more effective compared to the application of single bacterial isolate. This study was aimed to obtain endophytic bacterial consortium originated from forestry plant that is effective to control root-knot nematode. The study was conducted through bacterial isolation followed by biosafety test. Bacterial isolates that were found to be safe for plants and mammals and compatible with each other were further grouped as the endophytic bacterial consortium. Phenotypic characterization and physiological characteristics including Gram type, ability to produce protease, chitinase, and lipase enzymes as well as HCN volatile compound were also tested. Moreover, the ability to fix nitrogen and dissolve phosphate were also examined. The endophytic bacterial consortium consisted of several bacterial isolates was further tested for its ability to inhibit M. incognita egg hatching and increase J2 of M. incognita mortality in vitro. Furthermore, test on tomato plants infested with 500 J2 of M. incognita was also performed in the greenhouse. Test results showed that 70 bacterial isolates were successfully isolated from Shorea sp., Swietenia sp., Albizia falcataria, Anthocephalus cadamba, and Juglans nigra. However, 34 bacterial isolates were observed to be safe (did not cause hypersensitivity reaction and did not produce hemolytic toxin). According to physiological characteristics, it was found that 25 isolates were able to produce protease enzyme, 26 isolates were able to produce chitinase enzyme, and 14 isolates were able to produce lipase enzyme. Moreover, it was also detected that 11 isolates were able to produce HCN volatile compound, 23 isolates were able to fix nitrogen (N), and 24 isolates were able to dissolve phosphate (P). Endophytic bacterial consortium obtained in this study was also observed to be able to inhibit M. incognita egg hatching up to 81.33% and increase J2 of M. incognita mortality up to 85% compared to control. In addition, the application of endophytic bacterial consortium was also able to increase the growth of tomato plant infected with M. incognita, and suppress the severity of the root-knot disease. This study provided information that endophytic bacterial consortium originated from forestry plants has the potential as a biocontrol agent of M. incognita.

Abstract. Musa M, Lusiana ED, Buwono NR, Arsad S, Mahmudi M. 2020. The effectiveness of silvofishery system in water treatment in intensive whiteleg shrimp (Litopenaeus vannamei) ponds, Probolinggo District, East Java Indonesia. Biodiversitas 21: 4695-4701. Whiteleg shrimp (Litopenaeus vannamei) is a popular aquaculture species in Indonesia due to its high market demand. It requires excellent water quality to ensure its growth rate and production. Therefore, intensive culture system is considered. However, the system threatens the sustainability of the adjacent environment and thus proper water treatment is necessary to increase the quality of water used in shrimp farming as well as the wastewater it produces. In this study, we explored the use of a silvofishery system that integrates mangroves into a pond as a potential solution to this issue. This study aimed to assess the effectiveness of the silvofishery system at treating water inputs and effluents of a whiteleg shrimp pond in Probolinggo District, East Java, Indonesia. Eight physicochemical water quality parameters and a phytoplankton community at four sampling sites during neap tide period were examined in this study. The effectiveness of the silvofishery system in increasing water quality was analyzed using analysis of variance (ANOVA), while the diversity of phytoplankton for biomonitoring was measured with the Shannon-Wiener diversity index (H’). The results showed that the mangrove effectively increased the quality of the water supply and wastewater in the intensive whiteleg shrimp pond-especially in terms of nutrient removal-as well as the biodiversity of its phytoplankton community. Other parameters such as TOM and ammonia also decreased, though this was not statistically proven.

Abstract. Wiratno, Syakir M, Sucipto I, Pradana AP. 2019. Isolation and characterization of endophytic bacteria from roots of Piper nigrum and their activities against Fusarium oxysporum and Meloidogyne incognita. Biodiversitas 20: 682-687. The endophytic bacteria from spices plants have potential as biocontrol agents. Nevertheless, their potential has not been explored. Pepper plant (Piper nigrum L.) is linked with promising endophytic bacteria as biocontrol agents. This study aimed to obtain isolates of endophytic bacteria from root tissues of pepper plant. The isolation of endophytic bacteria was done using surface-sterilization method and using Tryptone Soya Agar (TSA) medium. The result showed that 10 endophytic bacteria were successfully isolated. We found that a total of 9 bacteria were safe for plants and mammals and used for subsequent steps. The selected bacteria showed inhibition activity of Fusarium oxysporum (18.6 to 43.7%). Furthermore, the secondary metabolites of the endophytic bacteria also promoted lethal effects on Meloidogyne incognita (16.6 to 65.8%). The physiological activity also showed that seven isolates were able to produce chitinase, and four (4) isolates were able to produce protease. Additionally, 55.6% of isolates were also able to dissolve phosphorus and fix nitrogen. This study provided fundamental information related to the biocontrol properties of endophytic bacteria isolated from pepper plant roots.

Abstract. Asyiah IN, Mudakir I, Hoesain M, Pradana AP, Djunaidy A, Sari RF. 2020. Consortium of endophytic bacteria and rhizobacteria effectively suppresses the population of Pratylenchus coffeae and promotes the growth of Robusta coffee. Biodiversitas 21: 4702-4708. Pratylenchus coffeae as the coffee-parasitic nematode can cause a yield loss from 28.7% to 78.4% on Robusta coffee (Coffea canephora A. Froehner). Environmentally friendly and sustainable efforts can be made to control this nematode by applying the antagonistic agents from the bacterial group. The application of antagonistic agents in a consortium has a better effectivity than a single application. This study was aimed to identify the effectivity of the consortium of endophytic bacteria and rhizobacteria formulated on a cost-effective molasse medium against the P. coffeae population and growth of Robusta coffee in a greenhouse. A total of nine bacterial isolates of genus Bacillus and Pseudomonas were used during experiment. The formulation was prepared by mixing the bacterial suspension and 2% molasses with a ratio of 1:1 (v/v). The greenhouse assay was performed following the completely randomized block design pattern with five treatments and five replications. Robusta coffee plant clone BP 936 was treated with a 10 mL (109 CFU mL-1) bacterial consortium mixture while control was treated with 10 mL sterilized water. Each plant was inoculated with P. coffeae 50 J2 after a week of bacterial consortium application. The result showed that all bacterial consortiums were effective in suppressing the population of P. coffeae in soil and root of Robusta coffee. All consortiums gave a better result than control in suppressing the population of P. coffeae. The best suppression of nematodes was shown by the Cst 02 consortium with the suppression value of 62.5% in the root and 76.1% in the coffee plant rhizosphere. The application of bacterial consortium increases the plant height (28.02-44.51%), number of leaves (127.27-168.18%), and leaf area (278.8-425.57%). In this study, suppression of P. coffeae population by bacterial consortium showed a positive correlation with plant growth. This study presents the information of endophytic bacteria and rhizobacteria consortium from Bacillus and Pseudomonas group that is effective in suppressing the population P. coffeae and improves the growth of Robusta coffee.

Mardhiana, Pradana AP, Adiwena M, Santoso D, Wijaya R, Murtilaksono A. 2017. Use of endophytic bacteria from roots of Cyperus rotundus for biocontrol of Meloidogyne incognita. Biodiversitas 18: 1308-1315. Yield loss due to M. incognita infection in tomato plants cultivation can reach 60%. The problem is able to be solved through the application of endophytic bacteria. In this study, endophytic bacteria from root Cyperus rotundus were isolated using Tryptic Soy Agar media. The bacteria isolates were then tested their safety against plants and mammals. The phenotypic and physiological properties of selected isolates were characterized and tested to know their resistance to antibiotics, and their ability in suppressing the infection rate of M. incognita on tomato. Eighteen bacterial isolates were obtained and 8 of them are categorized as safe bacteria for plants and mammals, which could be used in further tests. A result of the physiological test showed that bacterial isolates were able to produce protease enzyme (87.5%), chitinase enzyme (62.5%), and HCN (37.5%), having urease activity (75%) and could dissolve phosphate (87.5%). Based on the test results, all endophytic bacteria effectively increased tomato growth and suppressed the severity of M. incognita infection with the most stable isolate as a biocontrol agent of M. incognita was CRS16.