An experiment was conducted to evaluate the effect of xylanase and cellulase derived from dried tomato pomace treated with Aspergillus niger and fermented juice of epiphytic of lactic acid bacteria (FJLB) on fermentative quality and in vitro digestibility of Napier grass silages. Thus, we treated Napier grass silage with or without fibrolytic enzymes (ENZ) in combination with or without FJLB. The pH values of silages treated with FJLB, but not ENZ, were found to be lower than the other silages during the ensiling process. The content of water soluble carbohydrates (WSC) of all silages was likely to decrease during fermentation in all silages. However, after 30 days of ensiling, the addition of ENZ resulted in higher WSC content when compared to the other treatments. At 30 day of ensiling, the crude protein of silage was higher in silage treated with FJLB. The gas production related to the soluble fraction was higher in silage treated with ENZ but total gas production was similar between treatments. The latter is in line the observation that the degradability of organic matter also was not different between treatments. It is concluded that neither the fermentation quality nor the in vitro digestibility of organic matter is improved when Napier grass is ensiled with both FJLB and fibrolytic enzymes compared with FJLB alone. HIGHLIGHTSEnsiling Napier grass, which contains high water soluble carbohydrates, without additives results in an acceptable fermentation quality. A combination of fermented juice of epiphytic lactic acid bacteria (FJLB) and fibrolytic enzymes has no effect on quality of Napier grass silage. ARTICLE HISTORY

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The use of endophytic bacteria in agriculture provides an effective way of improving crop yield and significantly reducing chemical usage, such as fungicides. This research was conducted to explore endophytic bacteria with plant growth promotion (PGP) and antifungal activities against Fusarium moniliforme AIT01. In this study, we obtained 52 isolates of endophytic bacteria associated with the roots and stems of sugarcane from Nakhon Ratchasima province, Thailand. In vitro antagonistic activity test showed that 14 out of 52 isolates had antagonistic activity against the fungal pathogen F. moniliforme AIT01. These antagonistic endophytic bacteria were identified as belonging to six different species as follows: Nguyenibacter vanlangensis, Acidomonas methanolica, Asaia bogorensis, Tanticharoenia aidae, Burkholderia gladioli and Bacillus altitudinis based on phenotypic characteristics, along with phylogenetic analysis of their 16S rRNA gene sequences. Seven isolates effectively inhibited F. moniliforme AIT01 mycelial growth by up to 40%. The volatile compounds of six isolates reduced the growth of F. moniliforme AIT01 by over 23%. Moreover, riceberry rice seedlings previously treated with B. gladioli CP28 were found to strongly reduce infection with phytopathogen by 80% in comparison to the non-treated control. Furthermore, the isolates also showed relevant PGP features, including ammonia production, zinc and phosphate solubilisation, auxin and siderophore biosynthesis. These results demonstrated that the tested endophytic bacteria could be successfully utilised as a source of PGP and biocontrol agent to manage diseases caused by F. moniliforme.

The aim of the present study was to isolate and identify lactic acid bacteria (LAB) from fermented juice of tropical crops such as Napier grass, Ruzi grass, Purple guinea grass, Stylo legume, and Leucaena and their application to improve the quality of tropical crop silage. Fifteen strains of LAB were isolated. The LAB strains were Gram-positive and catalase-negative bacteria and could be divided into three groups, i.e., Pediococcus pentosaceus, Lactiplantibacillus (para)plantarum, and Limosilactobacillus fermentum according to the biochemical API 50CH test. Based on the analysis of 16S rRNA sequence, the strains isolated in the group L. (para)plantarum were distinguished. Two isolates (N3 and G4) were identified as Lactiplantibacillus plantarum. Three isolates (St1, St2, and St3) were identified as L. paraplantarum. In addition, the identification of other isolates was confirmed in the group P. pentosaceus (R1, R4, R5, R8, R11, and L1) and the group L. fermentum (N4, G6, G7, and N4). All selected strains were able to grow at 50°C. All LAB strains showed antimicrobial activity against Escherichia coli ATCC 25922, Shigella sonnei ATCC 25931, Pseudomonas aeruginosa ATCC 27853, and Bacillus cereus ATCC 11778. Four selected LAB strains (St1, St3, N4, and R4) were tested for their capacity to successfully ensile Stylo legume (Stylosanthes guianensis CIAT184). Stylo silages treated with LAB were well preserved, the NH3–N and butyric acid contents were lower, and the lactic acid content was higher than those in the control (p < 0.05). The acetic acid content was the highest in R4-treated silage among the treatments (p < 0.05). The crude protein (CP) content of St1-silage was significantly (p < 0.05) higher than the others. The inoculation of thermotolerant LAB selected from fermented juice of epiphytic lactic acid bacteria (FJLB) was found to be highly instrumental to obtain well-preserved silage from the Stylo legume.