Evaluation of the local isolate Streptomyces kanamyceticus strain Tikrit-5 in control of gray rot disease on eggplant caused by Botrytis cinerea

The study was carried to know the effect of local strain, Streptomyces kanamyceticus on the growth and production of three varieties of eggplant plants and its control gray rot disease. The results showed that the S . kanamyceticus with the fungicide Prado in the presence of the pathogenic fungus B. cinerea achieved the highest plant, shoot and root system of dry weight and leaf area in all eggplant cultivars compared with the lowest these parameters in the pathogenic fungus treatment. The results also showed the lowest infection severity with the pathogen B . cinerea was recorded in Barcelona cultivar treated with ( S . kanamyceticus + Prado) which reached to 21.23% compared with the highest infection severity of 80.06% in the Norita cultivar infected with the pathogenic fungus. S . kanamyceticus with the fungicide Prado in the presence of the pathogenic fungus Botrytis cinerea achieved the highest resistance induction agents such as chitinase, β–glucanase, peroxidase and polyphenol oxidase in all eggplant cultivars compared other treatments. The effect S . kanamyceticus was reflected by resistance induction, reducing the infection severity and improving the vegetative characteristics to a higher plant productivity. The highest fruit weight was recorded under the conditions of infection with the pathogenic fungus B . cinerea in Barcelona cultivar treated with S . kanamyceticus with the fungicide Prado reached to 588.82 gm compared with the lowest fruit weight of 301.41 gm in Norita cultivar in the treatment of pathogenic fungi only. In terms of fruit hardness, the treatment of S . kanamyceticus with the Prado in the presence of the pathogenic fungus B . cinerea achieved the highest fruit hardness reached 3.8 kg/cm 2 in Barcelona cultivar compared with the lowest fruit hardness of 2.8 kg/cm 2 in both cultivar Norita and Al-Nasr in the treatment of pathogenic fungus only.


INTRODUCTION
The eggplant and its scientific name (Solanum melongena L.) is a summer vegetable crop and it is one of the crops of the Solanaceae family (Hussein and Muhammed, 2017). Which is one of the most important plant families from an economic point of view, especially in the hot and temperate regions of the world, as the eggplant plant was known in the past that it was growing in the wild, and its original home is China and India (HG and Osman, 2014;Suganiya and Kumuthini, 2014). The importance of eggplant is the use of its fruits as food in most countries of the world, including Iraq, as well as some medical uses. It has a high nutritional value. Eggplant fruits contain 14.34% protein, 2.82% fat, 12.85% fiber, 63.87% carbohydrates, in addition to some nutrients such as potassium, Phosphorous, magnesium, calcium, iron and zinc (Gopalan et al., 2007;Hussain et al., 2010). Eggplant fruits are also distinguished by containing some vitamins such as vitamin A, B1, B2, B5, C (Cardoso et al., 2009). The areas planted with this crop increased in Iraq in 2020, as the cultivated area reached (13.617.26 Hectors), with a total production estimated at (51.800) tons, and a yield of (3804) kg/Hectors (Central Statistics Organization, 2020). Eggplant is also grown in many countries of the world due to its high content of biologically active compounds including phenolic compounds and micronutrients (Luthria, 2007). The eggplant crop is exposed to many diseases that reduce the yield in quantity and quality, and one of the important fungal diseases is gray rot.
Gray rot disease caused by the fungus Botrytis cinerea is one of the common diseases of the eggplant crop. This disease affects the eggplant crop from the beginning of its cultivation until the time of its maturity and marketing. exposed or in protected cultivation or after harvest during storage (Mosbach et al., 2011) .The fungus B. cinerea causes great economic losses in many countries of the world annually. The rate of loss ranges from $10 billion to $100 billion annually worldwide (Boddy, 2016). The fungus B. cinerea produces large quantities of conidia, which are scattered in the air and can be transmitted through the air easily and for long distances. These fungi also form stone bodies called sclerotia, which enable the fungus to survive in the absence of its hosts or when suitable conditions are not available for its growth (Mouekouba et al., 2013).
There are multiple methods used to control gray rot disease caused by B. cinerea, including chemical methods, mainly the use of chemical pesticides such as Switch, Topsin-M, Rovral, Elevate, and other chemical pesticides (Shishido, 2011). The use of chemical pesticides has led to the emergence of many problems, including environmental pollution, the high cost of chemical pesticides and the emergence of resistant strains as a result of the repeated use of pesticides, as well as its harmful effect on beneficial microorganisms as well as being toxic to humans and animals (Decognet et al., 2009). In view of the many problems that have emerged from the use of chemical control, the world has begun to resort to alternatives to chemical control, and among these alternatives is the use of biological control, which is one of the safe methods for the environment, humans and plants themselves (Compant et al., 2005). Biological control has proven to be one of the most environmentally friendly methods due to its ability to use natural antibiotics (Qessaoui et al., 2019). Bio-fungicide is the general name given to microorganisms and natural compounds that have the ability to control plant diseases (Francis and Keinath, 2010).
Actinomycetes and especially the genus Streptomyces spp. are often used as Biocontrol agents because they can produce a wide range of secondary metabolites (Bubici, 2018). Abbey et al. (2019) reported the production of biocides to combat Botrytis diseases from some strains of Actinomycetes, where the strain (Streptomyces griseoviridis k61) produces the biocide (Mycostop) from Vedera registered in North America (Canada & US) & Europe, and also the strain ( Streptomyces lydicus WYEC108) Biocide (Actinovate SP) from Monsanto, registered in Canada, Turkey, US. Yuan and Crawford (1995) used at the applied level two strains of Actinomycetes, Streptomyces lydicus and Streptomyces griseoviridis, as good bio-resistance agents against various plant pathogens. Actinomycetes of all kinds are the most productive source of bioactive secondary metabolites, including antifungals, and are considered natural sources of bioactive compounds (Aksoy et al., 2016). Another biological control method against gray rot is the use of the biological fungus Trichoderma spp. Which is characterized by ease of isolation and propagation, as this fungus was used to resist many plant pathogenic fungi, including the fungus B. cinerea, which infects different parts of the plant such as the stem, flowers and fruits, as well as infecting different crops such as grapes, strawberries, prepare vegetable eggplant and various vegetables (Freeman et al., 2004). The current study aimed to apply some aspects of integration in resisting pathogenic fungi by chemical and biological methods represented by Actinomycetes and to evaluate the sensitivity of some eggplant cultivars to disease and their response to experimental treatments.

MATERIALS AND METHODS Pathogenic fungus Botrytis cinerea
The pathogenic fungus B. cinerea was obtained from the Plant Diseases Laboratory -College of Agriculture -Tikrit University (Hassan and Mahmoud, 2022).

Preparation of Streptomyces kanamyceticus filtrate
S. kanamyceticus strain Tikrit-5 isolate (highly antagonistic isolate against the pathogenic fungus B. cinerea) was used. This isolate was characterized morphologically and molecularly and registered in the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) under the accession number (OM432024.1). (Hassan and Mahmoud, 2022).
S. kanamyceticus was grown in the Starch Peptone Yeast Extract Medium (SPYEM) consisting of 10 g of Starch, 4 g of Yeast extract, and 1g of K2HPO4 in 1000 ml of distilled water (Collins et al., 1995). After the incubation at 30C for 15 days, the medium was filtered using a paper filter paper (Whatman No.1) then centrifuged at 5000 rpm for 10 min. Finally, the sediment was discarded, and the filtrate was used in subsequent experiments.

Preparation of B. cinerea spore suspension
Spores of the pathogenic fungus B. cinerea grown in PDA medium were collected by adding 10 ml of distilled water to the plate using a sterile fine brush. The spores were carefully harvested to avoid scratching the PDA. Spore suspension was prepared at a concentration of 10 10 spore/ ml using a counting slide.

Field experience
The field experiment was carried out in the greenhouse at the Research Station of the Plant Protection Department -Tikrit University on 7/11/2021. After sterilizing the soil with formalin at a concentration of 5% for 7 days, the plastic house was ventilated to fumigate formalin. Three cultivars of eggplant were planted, including Norita (Germany), Barcelona (Spanish) and Nasr (local). The experiment included the following treatments for each cultivar, with 10 plants per treatment: The pathogenic fungus B. cinerea B. cinerea+ S. kanamyceticus B. cinerea + fungicide Brado B. cinerea + S. kanamyceticus + Brado

S. kanamyceticus
For the pathogenic fungus treatments, the suspension of pathogenic fungus spores was sprayed at a rate of 50 ml per plant two weeks after planting the seedlings using hand spryer, then repeated spraying after a month of planting to ensure the occurrence of infection. The filtrate of S. kanamyceticus was sprayed at a rate of 50 ml / plant. The fungicide, Prado (0.1%) treatment was also sprayed with 50 ml/plant, while the Prado + S. kanamyceticus filtrate was sprayed with 50 ml (1:1 V:V), all plant service operations were carried out including fertilization, irrigation and weeding.

Studied traits Vegetative traits Estimation of plant height
The height of the plants was estimated by taking three plants at random from each treatment and from each replicate, and the root system was separated from the vegetative total.

Estimation of shoot and root dry weights
The shoot system was separated from the root system, then the plant roots were washed with water well to get rid of the soil stuck in them. The root and vegetative parts were dried using an electric oven at 60C until their weight was stable. The average weights of both shoot system and root system were calculated using a sensitive scale.

Estimation of leaf area
The leaf area of the plant was measured according to the method (Wallace and Munger, 1965).

Preparation of the crude enzymes
The roots of three plants (from each replicate) were washed with water to get rid of the mud, then the roots were cut into small pieces and 1 g of roots was taken and placed in a mortar and 5 ml of acetate buffer solution pH 5.6 was added, then completely crushed and Centrifuged at 5000 rpm for 5 minutes, the sediment was discarded, and the filtrate which represents the crude enzymes was sterilized via millipore membrane Filter. 22 µm.

Estimation of the chitinase and β-glucanase activities
Chitinase and β-glucanase activities were estimated according to Tweddell et al. (1994). Briefly, 1 ml of substrate solution (1%) (chitine and β-glucan for chitinase and βglucanas estimation, respectively) was added to 1 ml of the crude enzymatic filtrate, the mixture was incubated in a water bath at a temperature of 30° C for two hours, centrifuged at 2000 rpm for 5 minutes, then mixe 1 ml of the supernatant with 1 ml of DNS solution. The mixture was boiled in a 100 °C water bath for 5 minutes, then cooled and the absorbance at 540 nm was measured using spectrophotometer. enzmetic unit was defined as the amount of enzyme required for liberate a micromole of the substance (chitin) per ml / minute.

Determination Peroxidase and Poly Phenol oxidase activities
It was estimated according to Mahadevan and Sridhar (1986). 2.5 ml of the guaicol solution (1%) for Peroxidase , catechol (1%) for Poly Phenol oxidase at a temperature of 25°C, was mixed with 0.1 ml of the crude enzyme, after five minutes the absorbance is measured at a wavelength of 470 nm, then the laccase activity was estimated according to the following equation: One unit= ΔA470 of 0.01/ min

Estimation of the severity of infection with the pathogen Botrytis cinerea
The severity of infection of the pathogenic fungus Botrytis cinerea was estimated according to the pathological index mentioned by Gao et al. (1995) which shown in Table ( Fruit weight: The fruits of three plants (from each replicator and from each treatment) were weighed at three times harvest. The weight was calculated in (g) using a sensitive scale and the general average was calculated for each treatment. Fruit hardness: Fruit hardness was measured for three fruits (from each replicate and from each treatment ( using Fruit Hardness Tester. Fruit hardness was measured immediately after fruits harvesting.

Statistical analysis
The field experiment was carried out by Randomized Complete Blocks Design, Statistical analysis of the resulted data were carried out by analysis of variance was using the program (SPSS). The means were compared according to the Least Significant Deference (L.S.D.) test at the level of probability 0.05.

RESULTS and DISCUSSION
Table (2) showed that the highest rate of plant height was recorded in the treatment of S. kanamyceticus, which was 58.58 cm, with a significant superiority compared to the untreated plants, as the average plant height reached 43.46 cm. In terms of infection with pathogenic fungi, the highest rate of plant height was 54.28 cm in the S. kanamyceticus with the fungicide Prado compared to the lowest height of 38.26 cm in the treatment of pathogenic fungi only.
Barcelona eggplant cultivar showed the highest rate of plant height of 50.61 cm with significant superiority over the other cultivars. As for the interaction of the uninfected treatments, the highest height was reached for the cultivar Barcelona treated with S. kanamyceticus, which reached 60.32 cm compared to 41.21 cm in the control treatment of the variety Norita. As for the interaction level of the treatments and in the presence of the pathogenic fungus B. cinerea, the cultivar Barcelona treated showed with S. kanamyceticus with the pesticide Prado, the highest height reached 56.16 cm compared to the lowest recorded height in Norita cultivar, which reached 36.07 cm. The interaction between treatments and cultivars in presence of the pathogenic fungus B. cinerea showed the highest height of 56.16 cm in the Barcelona cultivar treated with S. kanamyceticus and Prado compared to the lowest height (36.07 cm) in Norita cultivar treated with pathogenic fungus. Through the results listed in Table (3), it was found that the highest average dry weight of the shoot system was recorded in the treatment S. kanamyceticus, which reached to 55.17 g, with significant superiority compared with the untreated plants, where the average dry weight was 52.47 g. At the level of infection with pathogenic fungi B cinerea, the highest dry weight rate was reached to 52.39 g in the treatment of S. kanamyceticus with the fungicide Prado, compared to the lowest dry weight rate of 24.77 g in the treatment of pathogenic fungus only.
In terms of cultivars, Barcelona cultivar showed the highest dry weight rate of 50.18 g, with significant superiority compared to other cultivars. The interaction between treatments and cultivars in the presence of the pathogenic fungus B. cinerea showed the highest dry weight of 56.33 g in the Barcelona cultivar treated with S. kanamyceticus with the Prado compared with the lowest dry weight of 23.64 g in Norita cultivar treated with pathogenic fungus. Table (4) shows that the highest dry weight of the root system was recorded in the treatment S. kanamyceticus, which was 4.06 g, with a significant superiority compared to the untreated plants, as the average weight was 3.76 g. In the presence of infection with the pathogenic fungus B. cinerea, S. kanamyceticus with the fungicide Prado achieved significant superiority over all treatments infected with the pathogenic fungus, as the weight reached 3.8 g, while the lowest dry weight at the level of treatments infected with pathogenic fungi was 3.28 g . At the level of cultivars, Barcelona cultivar significantly outperformed the rest of the cultivars, as its average weight was 4.19 g. The interaction between treatments and cultivars in the presence of the pathogenic fungus B. cinerea showed the highest dry weight of 4.35 g in the Barcelona cultivar treated with S. kanamyceticus with the Prado compared with the lowest dry weight of 2.76 g in Norita cultivar treated with pathogenic fungus. The results in Table (5) showed that the highest leaf area was 3107.19 cm 2 in the treatment S. kanamyceticus, with a significant difference compared with 3003.01 cm 2 in the control, at the level of infection with the pathogenic fungus B. cinerea, S. kanamyceticus with the Prado showed the highest average leaf area which reached 3017.12 cm 2 compared with the lowest leaf area of 1020.62 cm 2 in the treatment of pathogenic fungus only. Among the eggplants cultivars, Barcelona variety recorded the highest leaf area of 2661.17 cm 2 compared to other varieties, while the interaction between treatments and cultivars in the presence of the pathogenic fungus B. cinerea showed the highest leaf area of 3022.9 cm 2 in the Barcelona cultivar treated with S. kanamyceticus with the Prado compared with the lowest leaf area of 1011.14 cm 2 in Norita cultivar treated with pathogenic fungus. The results listed in Table (6) indicate the effectiveness of Streptomyces kanamyceticus strain Tikrit-5 on chitinase enzyme (units/ml) for three cultivars of eggplant. S. kanamyceticus with the Prado showed the highest activity of chitinase, which was 0.86 units/ml, with significant superiority compared to the plants of the control treatment, in which the activity of chitinase reached 0.03 units/ml. In terms of infection with the pathogenic fungus B. cinerea, the highest activity of chitinase was recorded in the S. kanamyceticus with fungicide Prado, which was 0.86 units / ml, followed by 0.79 units / ml in the S. kanamyceticus with the pathogenic fungi, then 0.45 units/ml in the treatment of pathogenic fungi only, compared to the lowest chitinase activity (0.22 units/ml) recorded in the pathogenic fungus with the fungicide Prado.

Average of treatments
Among eggplant cultivars, the highest chitinase activity was 0.55 units / ml in Barcelona cultivar, while the interaction between the non-infected treatments with the pathogenic fungus, the Barcelona cultivar treated with S. kanamyceticus achieved the highest chitinase activity of 0.81 units/ml compared with the lowest activity 0.02 Unit/ml in Barcelona cultivar. On the other hand, interaction of treatments infected with the pathogenic fungus B. cinerea, it showed the highest chitinase acitivity was 0.96 units/ml in Barcelona cultivar treated with(S. kanamyceticus + Prado), compared with the lowest activity of 0.21 units/ml in Norita cultivar treated with pathogenic fungus and the fungicides prado.       (9) showed that the highest activity of β-glucanase was recorded in plants treated with S. kanamyceticus with the Prado, as the activity was 0.93 units/ml with a significant superiority compared to the non-treated plants (control), which reached to 0.01 units / ml, At the level of infection with the pathogenic fungus B.cinerea, S. kanamyceticus with the Prado achieved the highest β-glucanase activity, which reached 0.93 units/ml, followed by 0.87 units/ml in the S. kanamyceticus with the pathogenic fungus only, compared with the lowest β-glucanase activity of 0.15 units/ml in the pathogenic fungus with the fungicide. Among the cultivars, Barcelona cultivar showed the highest β-glucanase activity of 0.56 units/ml compared to the other cultivars. The interaction between the treatments infected with the pathogenic fungus and its cultivars showed that Barcelona cultivar treated with (S. kanamyceticus + Prado) had the highest enzyme activity of 1 unit/ml compared with the lowest activity of 0.13 units/ml in Norita cultivar treated with the (pathogenic fungus + Prado). Table (10) shows the plant's reaction to the infection severity with the pathogenic fungus B. cinerea. All treatments with S. kanamyceticus showed significant superiority in lowering of infection severity compared to the pathogenic fungus treatment only. The lowest infection severity was 21.23 in Barcelona cultivar treated with S. kanamyceticus with the Prado in presence of the pathogenic fungus, compared with the 80.06% in Norita cultivar treated with pathogenic fungus only.

Table (9) Effect of S. kanamyceticus strain Tikrit-5 on β-glucanase activity (u/ml) of three cultivars of eggplant under conditions of infection with the pathogenic fungus B. cinerea
Average of treatments  Through the results listed in Table ( 11), it is clear that the highest fruit production of eggplant was recorded in plants treated with S. kanamyceticus, where the production reached 601.28 g/plant, with significant superiority compared to non-treated plants, as the fruit production reached 586.94 g/plant. Under the conditions of infection with the pathogenic fungus B.cinerea, S. kanamyceticus with the fungicide Prado showed the highest yield of 582.94 g/plant with significant superiority compared to other treatments infected with the pathogenic fungus. At the level of eggplant cultivars, Barcelona cultivar significantly outperformed the other cultivars as the yield reached 536.81 gm/plant, while in terms of interaction of un-infected treatments with the pathogenic fungus B. cinerea, Barcelona cultivar treated with S. kanamyceticus achieved the highest yield of 607.21 gm/plant compared with the lowest production 580.16 g/plant in the control treatment of Norita cultivar. The interaction of treatments infected with the pathogenic fungus B. cinerea, Barcelona cultivar treated with (S. kanamyceticus + Prado), showed a higher yield of 588.80 g/plant compared with the lowest yield of 300.18 and 301.41 g/plant in the cultivars Nasr and Norita, treated with pathogenic fungi, respectively.  Table (12) showed the effect of S. kanamyceticus strain Tikrit-5 on the hardness of eggplant fruits. S. Kanamyceticus in the un-infected plants showed the highest hardness of 4.43 kg/cm 2 with significant superiority compared with the untreated plants. At the level of infection with the pathogenic fungus, (S. kanamyceticus + Prado) showed the highest hardiness of 3.6 kg / cm 2 compared with the lowest fruit hardness of 2.87 kg / cm 2 in the treatment of the pathogenic fungus only. Among the cultivars, Barcelona achieved the highest rate of fruit hardness, reaching 3.75 kg/cm 2 compared to other cultivars. The interaction of treatments infected with the B.cinerea showed that (S. kanamyceticus + Prado) showed the highest hardness value of 3.8 kg / cm 2 compared with the lowest hardness 2.8 kg / cm 2 in both Norita and Nasr cultivars treated with pathogenic fungus only.
The results of increase plant height by S. kanamyceticus strain Tikrit-5 agree with EL-Shatoury et al. g for St 2 Met strain compared with plants treated with water only, as the dry weight was 10.5 g. The same study confirmed that the secondary metabolites resulting from the isolate of Streptomyces (St 2 Met) considered as factors promoting plant growth, the dry weight of the plant was 80% higher after St 2 Met spray treatment, compared to healthy plants (not infected with the pathogenic fungus B. cinerea). At the level of increasing leaf area, our results showed that the strain S. kanamyceticus strain Tikrit-5 with the fungicide Prado achieved the highest rate of leaf area in eggplant. These results agree with study of Djebaili et al. (2021) which showed the highest leaf area in tomato plants treated with Streptomyces albidoflavus H12 and Nocardiopsis aegyptica H14. On the level of plant stimulation to develop resistance, treatment of S. kanamyceticus with the fungicide Prado showed the highest rate of chitinase and beta-glucanase activities. These results agreed with study of Medina and Martinze, (2011) that indicated the strain (H7602) of Streptomyces griseus has a biological effect against pathogenic fungus Phytophthora capsici, (caused of pepper blight), by inducing systemic resistance in the plant and reduced infection by 47%. This vital activity is due to an increase in chitinase activity. These results agreed with Shekhar et al. (2006) who noticed that the Streptomyces violaceusniger has a high antagonistic activity against the fungi Phanerochaete chrysosporium, Postia placenta, Coriolus versicolor and Gloeophyllum trabeum, this activity is due to the increase in the chitinase activity secreted by Streptomyces violaceusniger. These results are consistent with Lahmyed et al. (2021) who stated that Actinomycetes strains have the ability to produce the enzyme β-glucanase ranged between 1.4--17 units/ml. Gonzalez et al. (2003) indicated that β-glucanase produced by Actinomycetes which often used in biological control processes and in the manufacture of biocides. It was also noted that there are indirect mechanisms of Streptomyces sp. that stimulate systemic resistance in plants against plant pathogens. Streptomyces spp. improved the plant's defense mechanisms (Schrey and Tarkk, 2008).
İn severity of infection, the treatment of S. kanamyceticus with the fungicide Prado showed the highest effect on the pathogenic fungus B. cinerea, this result agreed with Yang et al., (2021), as they noticed that rice plants infected with blight caused by the pathogenic fungus Rhizoctonia solani when treated with the Streptomyces padanus PMS-702 reduced disease severity to 20% compared to 65% in untreated plants. Fan et al. (2019) reported that the severity of infection with the pathogenic fungus Pseudoperonospora cubensis that causes downy mildew in cucumber plant is inversely proportional to the antibiotic fungichromin, as the infection severity decreases with the increase in the concentration of the antibiotic fungichromin produced by Streptomyces padanus PMS-702 used against the pathogenic fungus, in 5 g/mlµ of fungichromin, infection severity was 100%, then decreased to 0% when used at 10 g/mlµ of fungichromin. The most important role of the antibiotic Fungichromin produced by Streptomyces spp. affects the membrane-bound ergosterol present in phytopathogenic fungi, which leads to its breakdown, leaching of the contents of the cell and death (Baginski, Czub et al. 2006). Zhang, Yang et al. (2020) confirmed that antifungalmycin N2 produced by Streptomyces sp. N2 plays an important role in inducing the rice plant to activate catalase and peroxidase to combat the disease of rice colostrum blight caused by the pathogenic fungus Rhizoctonia solani, due to this antibiotic, the infection rate in plants decreased from 65.21% to 26.02%. S. kanamyceticus with the fungicide Prado achieved the highest rate of productivity (fruit weight), these results are consistent with study of Qi et al., (2019) that showed most of the Streptomyces strains produce secondary metabolites such as antibiotics, antioxidants, or plant growth promoters. In addition, the field test conducted on the strawberry inoculated with the pathogen B. cinerea showed that the volatile organic compounds (VOCs ) produced by Streptomyces S97 prevented the symptoms of gray rot disease on strawberry by more than 87% compared to control, at the same time Streptomyces S97 led to increase in plant productivity (Ayed, Kalai-Grami et al. 2021).

CONCLUSION
The Iraqi local isolate, S. kanamyceticus strain Tikrit-5 , proved its role in control of the gray rot disease on eggplant caused by the fungus Botrytis cinerea. This isolate improved the plant's vegetative characteristics and productivity, as well as reducing the severity of infection with the pathogenic fungus by inducing systemic plant resistance and production of the antibiotic fungichromin.