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The development of bio-based products has increased in recent years, and species of the Bacillus genus have been widely used for product development due to their elevated production of antimicrobial molecules and resistance to extreme environmental conditions through endospore formation. In this context, the antifungal potential of Bacillus velezensis CMRP 4489 was investigated using in silico predictions of secondary metabolites in its genome and in vitro tests against the following phytopathogenic fungi: Sclerotinia sclerotiorum, Macrophomina phaseolina, and Botrytis cinerea. The in-silico predictions indicated that CMRP 4489 possesses several Biosynthetic Gene Clusters (BGCs) capable of producing molecules with antifungal properties and other non-identified BGCs. The in vitro assay results evidenced strong antifungal activity, inhibiting more than 60% of the tested fungi, and the isolate's molecules were stable under diverse physicochemical conditions. The in vitro assay evidenced significant antifungal activity, deformation of the hyphal structure in SS, biofilm formation capacity, and swarming motility. In the colonization assay, we observed attachment, colonization, and net-shaped biofilm formation, with the strain transitioning from the seeds to nearby structures. Therefore, CMRP 4489 showed to be a potential biocontrol agent against various diseases with agronomic importance and can be used under adverse environmental conditions., (© 2022. The Author(s).)

Brevibacillus brevis LABIM17 is a bacterial isolate with biotechnological potential. Its draft genome sequence contains a chromosome of 5,950,202 bp, with 5,477 coding sequences, and exhibits 12 clusters involved in the production of secondary metabolites, which are likely responsible for its antimicrobial activity against several human and plant pathogens.

Accurate model of structural elements is necessary to model the foliage and fruit distributions in cultivated plants, both of them being key parameters for yield prediction. However, the level of details in architectural data collection could vary, simplifying the data collection when plants get older and because of the high time cost required. In the present study, we aimed at reconstructing and analyzing plant structure, berry distributions and yield in Coffea arabica (Arabica coffee), by using both detailed or partial morphological information and probabilistic functions. Different datasets of coffee plant architectures were available with different levels of detail depending on the tree age. Three scales of decomposition-plant, axes and metamers were used reconstruct the plant architectures. CoffePlant3D, a software which integrates a series of mathematical, computational and statistical methods organized in three newly developed modules, AmostraCafe3D, VirtualCafe3D and Cafe3D, was developed to accurately reconstruct coffee plants in 3D, whatever the level of details available. The number of metamers of the 2nd order axes was shown to be linearly proportional to that of the orthotropic trunk, and the number of berries per metamer was modeled as a Gaussian function within a specific zone along the plagiotropic axes. This ratio of metamer emission rhythm between the orthotropic trunk and plagiotropic axes represents the pillar of botanical events in the C . arabica development and was central in our modeling approach, especially to reconstruct missing data. The methodology proposed for reconstructing coffee plants under the CoffePlant3D was satisfactorily validated across dataset available and could be performed for any other Arabica coffee variety.