The fungal pathogen Botrytis cinerea is the causal agent of devastating gray mold diseases in many economically important fruits, vegetables, and flowers, leading to serious economic losses worldwide. In this study, a novel actinomycete NEAU-LD23T exhibiting antifungal activity against B. cinerea was isolated, and its taxonomic position was evaluated using a polyphasic approach. Based on the genotypic, phenotypic and chemotaxonomic data, it is concluded that the strain represents a novel species within the genus Streptomyces, for which the name Streptomyces botrytidirepellens sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is NEAU-LD23T (=CCTCC AA 2019029T=DSM 109824T). In addition, strain NEAU-LD23T showed a strong antagonistic effect against B. cinerea (82.6±2.5%) and varying degrees of inhibition on nine other phytopathogenic fungi. Both cell-free filtrate and methanol extract of mycelia of strain NEAU-LD23T significantly inhibited mycelial growth of B. cinerea. To preliminarily explore the antifungal mechanisms, the genome of strain NEAU-LD23T was sequenced and analyzed. AntiSMASH analysis led to the identification of several gene clusters responsible for the biosynthesis of bioactive secondary metabolites with antifungal activity, including 9-methylstreptimidone, echosides, anisomycin, coelichelin and desferrioxamine B. Overall, this research provided us an excellent strain with considerable potential to use for biological control of tomato gray mold.
Keywords: Botrytis cinerea; Streptomyces botrytidirepellens sp. nov.; genomic properties; grey mould; polyphasic approach.