Farmers lose millions to crops ruined by mold fungi. The pathogens attack plant roots and kill the plants, and they spread fast, so the disease often can’t be stopped in time. Mold fungi are dangerous to people too, because they release toxic mycotoxins. Nikita Lyakhovchenko, an assistant in the biochemistry department at Belgorod State University in Russia, found a defender against mold among microbes: violacein, a pigment produced by the soil bacterium Janthinobacterium lividum.
Janthinobacterium lividum is an aerobic soil bacterium with a distinctive dark purple color that comes from violacein. The pigment occurs in several groups of bacteria and has long interested microbiologists, mostly as a possible way to suppress tumors. Its effect on mold fungi had not been studied.
Lyakhovchenko’s tests showed that the bacteria inhibit two of the most common molds, Alternaria and Aspergillus. Alternaria growth fell by 10% and Aspergillus growth by 46%.
Violacein could become the basis for a range of biological products that protect crops from the disease. First, more tests are needed to confirm that the pigment is safe for people and to try the products in the field.
