1 International Journal of Food Microbiology 2017. In Press. Efficacy of fungal and bacterial antagonists for controlling growth, FUM1 gene expression and fumonisin B1 production by Fusarium verticillioides on maize cobs of different ripening stages Nik Iskandar Putra Samsudin 1,2 , Alicia Rodriguez 1 , Angel Medina 1 and Naresh Magan 1 * 1 Applied Mycology Group, Cranfield Soil and AgriFood Institute, Cranfield University, MK43 0AL, Bedfordshire, United Kingdom 2 Department of Food Science & Food Safety Centre, Faculty of Food Science and Technology, Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia *Corresponding author: Prof. N. Magan, Head, Applied Mycology Group, Cranfield Soil and AgriFood Institute, Cranfield University, MK43 0AL, Bedfordshire, United Kingdom. E-mail: n.magan@cranfield.ac.uk Running title: Microbial antagonists to control growth, gene expression and fumonisin production by Fusarium verticillioides on maize cobs Key words: biocontrol, Fusarium, fumonisin B1, FUM genes, maize cob, maturity stages, silking