Effectiveness of Resistant Germplasm and Biological Control Agents as a Sustainable Management for Fusarium Wilt Disease on Chickpea

Nowadays, the use of antagonistic bacteria is widely applied in agriculture and used as biological control. A previous study which is yet to be identified based on physiological and biochemical characterizations discovered these organisms present in coffee plant litter could control fusarium wilt disease. Therefore, this study is a follow-up analysis that aims to identify coffee litter antagonistic bacteria with the ability to control fusarium wilt disease. The investigation techniques used were biochemical tests comprising of endospore staining, yellow colony growth test on media, bacterial purification and screening, macroscopic and microscopic characterization, Gram, the solubility of 3% KOH, fermentative oxidative, fluorescent pigment production, catalase, hypersensitivity, nitrogen-fixing, and phosphate solvent test. The results showed that antagonistic bacteria, including <em>Bacillus mycoides, Clostridium, Pseudomonas, Erwinia, </em>and <em>Alcaligenes</em> sp. were identified based on their character traits. This study represents new information on the bacteria types from coffee litter to control pathogenic fungi as an environmentally friendly biological control agent.

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Evaluation of Trichoderma asperellum B1902 in Controlling Fusarium Wilt of Cavendish Banana Cultivar

Sains Malaysiana ◽

10.17576/jsm-2021-5009-05 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 50 (9) ◽

pp. 2549-2561

Author(s):

Sharifah Siti Maryam Syd Abdul Rahman ◽

Nur Ain Izzati Mohd Zainudin ◽

Nor Azwady Abd. Aziz

Keyword(s):

Biological Control ◽

Fusarium Wilt ◽

Wilt Disease ◽

Internal Transcribed Spacers ◽

Plant Diseases ◽

Dual Culture ◽

Species Identity ◽

Trichoderma Species ◽

Culture Test ◽

Fusarium Wilt Disease

Trichoderma species is one of the microorganisms with antagonistic properties as biological control agents. In the banana industry, Fusarium wilt disease caused by Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. cubense (Foc) has been practically managed using chemical pesticides that led to environmental disruptions, ineffective conditions and disease resistance. In preliminary study, T. asperellum gave better result compared to other species in inhibiting the growth of Foc in in vitro condition. Therefore, the aim of this study was to examine the effects of T. asperellum as a biological control of Fusarium wilt disease of banana. A total of 326 fungal isolates were isolated from soil samples obtained around Malaysia and identified as Trichoderma species based on phenotype characteristics. The species identity for the best candidates from dual culture test was confirmed based on internal transcribed spacers (ITS) and translation elongation factor 1 alpha (TEF-1α) sequence identity. In dual culture test, findings showed that three isolates with a high percentage inhibition of radial growth (PIRG) were observed in plates of T. asperellum isolates B1902 (84.85%), T2007 (77.78%) and C1667 (75.76%), which successfully inhibited the growth of F. oxysporum f. sp. cubense isolate 9888. Based on in vivo test, the best candidate was T. asperellum B1902 with lower disease severity index (DSI) value of 0.2 compared to the inoculated control with DSI of 3.6. As a conclusion, T. asperellum B1902 can be used as an alternative treatment in managing Fusarium wilt disease. Hence, future study should be focused on applying T. asperellum as a biocontrol agent in the field and controlling other plant diseases in the agricultural plantation.

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