Abstract:In order to identify marine bacteria with the ability to inhibit the toxigenic fungus Fusarium, beneficial bacteria were isolated from prawns intestines and cultured on a solid medium in antagonism with Fusarium graminearum (FG1207), which produces the T-2 toxin. Bacteria with inhibition zones were regarded as being able to inhibit toxigenic FG1207. These were isolated and grown with FG1207 in a liquid medium. Liquid chromatography-mass spectroscopy/ mass spectroscopy (LC-MS/MS) was used to estimate the T-2 toxin present in the liquid medium. Bacterial strains found to both inhibit FG1207 growth and degrade T-2 toxin were identified using 16s rRNA sequencing and VITEK 2 biochemical identification methods. Thus, eight strains of beneficial bacteria were isolated. Of these, one strain (H5) showed a significant inhibitory effect on FG1207 growth, wherein LC-MS/MS did not detect T-2 toxin in the liquid medium containing H5 and FG1207. This result indicated that not only could this bacterial strain inhibit the growth of toxigenic Fusarium but it could also degrade T-2 toxin. The strain H5 was identified via 16s rRNA sequencing as Nepal Staphylococcus aureus, with 99.93% similarity seen, while VITEK 2 biochemical identification showed 96.86% similarity.