Brown blotch disease, caused by Pseudomonas tolaasii, is one of the most serious diseases in mushroom cultivation, and its control remains an important issue. This study isolated and evaluated pathogen-specific bacteriophages for the biological control of the disease. In previous studies, 23 varieties of P. tolaasii were isolated from infected mushrooms with disease symptoms and classified into three subtypes, Ptα, Ptβ, and Ptγ, based on their 16S rRNA gene sequences analysis and pathogenic characters. In this study, 42 virulent bacteriophages were isolated against these pathogens and tested for their host range. Some phages could lyse more than two pathogens only within the corresponding subtype, and no phage exhibited a wide host range across different pathogen subtypes. To eliminate all pathogens of the Ptα, Ptβ, and Ptγ subtype, corresponding phages of one, six, and one strains were required, respectively. These phages were able to suppress the disease completely, as confirmed by the field-scale on-farm cultivation experiments. These results suggested that a cocktail of these eight phages is sufficient to control the disease induced by all 23 P. tolaasii pathogens. Additionally, the antibacterial effect of this phage cocktail persisted in the second cycle of mushroom growth on the cultivation bed.
Keywords: Pseudomonas tolaasii; bacteriophage; mushroom blotch disease; phage therapy; tolaasin.