Antagonistic potential of isolated microorganisms from soil in Shimane prefecture against rice blast disease cause by Magnaporthe oryzae

Rice blast disease caused by Magnaporthe oryzae is an economically important fungal disease leading to extensive losses in many regions globally. In this study, microorganisms were isolated from soil in Gotsu City （Shimane prefecture） and screened for their inhibitory potential against M. oryzae using a dual culture assay. Based on this, 165 isolates were obtained from four locations. Forty-two of these isolates inhibited mycelial growth of M. oryzae relative to growth of the control. Furthermore, 11 of them inhibited M. oryzae mycelial growth by more than 50％ relative to that of the control. These results strongly suggest that microorganisms isolated from the soil of Gotsu City could yield candidate control agents for plant diseases such as rice blast.