| Summary: | Peru is one of the leading countries that produce and export specialty coffees, favorably positioned in the international markets for its physical and organoleptic cup qualities. In recent years, yellow coffee rust caused by the phytopathogenic fungus <i>Hemileia vastatrix</i> stands out as one of the main phytosanitary diseases that affect coffee culture yields. Many studies have demonstrated bacteria antagonistic activity against a number of phytopathogen fungi. In this context, the aim of this work was to select and characterize phyllospheric bacteria isolated from <i>Coffea arabica</i> with antagonistic features against coffee rust to obtain biocontrollers. For that purpose, a total of 82 phyllospheric bacteria were isolated from two coffee leaf rust-susceptible varieties, <i>typica</i> and <i>caturra roja</i>, and one tolerant variety, <i>catimor</i>. Of all the isolates, 15% were endophytic and 85% were epiphytes. Among all the isolates, 14 were capable of inhibiting the mycelial radial growth of <i>Mycena citricolor</i>, and <i>Colletotrichum</i> sp. 16S rRNA gene sequence-based analysis showed that 9 isolates were related to <i>Achromobacter insuavis</i>, 2 were related to <i>Luteibacter anthropi</i> and 1 was related to <i>Rodococcus ceridiohylli</i>, <i>Achromobacter marplatensis</i> and <i>Pseudomonas parafulva</i>. A total of 7 representative bacteria of each group were selected based on their antagonistic activity and tested in germination inhibition assays of coffee rust uredinospores. The CRRFLT7 and TRFLT8 isolates showed a high inhibition percentage of urediniospores germination (81% and 82%, respectively), similar to that obtained with the chemical control (91%). An experimental field assay showed a good performance of both strains against rust damage too, making them a promising alternative for coffee leaf rust biocontrol.
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