Evaluation of the Biological Control Agent’s Efficiency Against the Causal Agent of Early Blight of Solanum melongena

Eggplant, an important vegetable crop in Iraq, faces yield losses due to early blight disease caused by Alternaria solani. Two antagonistic fungi (Aspergillus niger and Purpureocillium lilacinum) isolated from eggplant rhizosphere were tested in vitro (dual confrontation technique) and in vivo (preventive treatments) as potential bioagents against the most virulent A. solani isolates. A. niger and P. lilacinum at 30% conidia/ml exhibited high inhibitory rate (55.11%) against A. solani mycelial growth. Furthermore, these two antagonistic species when applied preventively at 30% of the stock conidial suspension in vivo, reduced significantly disease severity index (<28.41%). Moreover, A. niger (11.98 units/g of soluble protein) and P. lilacinum (8.11 units/g of soluble protein) enhanced the polyphenol oxidase activity. Based on the results obtained by this study, it appears that A. niger and P. lilacinum could be employed as foliar treatments against A. solani to promote eggplant growth and development and induce plant systemic resistance. To control A. solani, it is encouraged to use natural enemies as components in integrated disease management. Keywords: Alternaria solani, biological control, polyphenol oxidase, Solanum melongena, antagonistic fungi

Biocontrol of Bayoud Disease (Fusarium oxysporum F. Sp. Albedinis) on Deglet-nour Variety of Date Palm (Phoenix dactylifera L.) in South Western Oases of Algeria

Background: This work has the objective to biocontrol the bayoud disease of date palm caused by the fungus Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. albedinis (Foa), is the major disease in Algerian palm groves of south western region. This in vivo biocontrol was done on date palm variety Deglet-Nour, using two antagonistic fungi species, Trichoderma harzianum and Aspergillus flavus.Methods: Twenty Foa isolates obtained from isolation of the spines carrying the typical symptoms of Bayoud disease were used. Two strains T. harzianum and A. flavus, were isolated from rhizosphere soils of the date palm trees. Using the greenhouse screening test, which was carried out on 3-4 month-old date palm seedlings at the rate of 5 ml of inoculum suspension.Result: A statistical analysis showed a significant (P less than 0.05), difference of Deglet-Nour seedlings reactions against Foa isolates and antagonistic fungi were observed. All date palm trees present susceptibility against Foa until the total mortality of seedlings. The biocontrol test showed that two antagonists showed different reaction, with the complete resistance for seedlings treated by T. harzianum with the mortality rate (rm%) reduced at 100%, while, the second antagonist A. flavus reduced the rm% at 25%. We can apply of these antagonistic fungi to protect our groves contaminated by Bayoud disease and also contain this susceptible commercial variety.

EFFECTIVENESS OF ANTAGONISTIC FUNGI Gliocladium sp. AND Trichoderma harzianum TO CONTROL Colletotrichum spp. on chili (Capsicum annuum L.)

The productivity of chili in terms of both quality and quantity is suppressed by the attacks of anthracnose disease caused by Colletotrichum spp. Pesticides is commonly used to control the disease. Researched was conducted to determine the antagonistic fungi and the effective dose in inhibiting the growth of the Colletotrichum spp. Antagonistic tests were performed in vivo using the direct method with three replicates. Inhibition test was arranged in a Complete Randomized Block Design (RCBD) with 7 treatments: Control, Gliocladium sp (150, 250, and 350 mL/plant) and T. harzianum (150, 250, and 350 mL/plant) with four replicates and three samples out of 20 plants per treatment. The results showed that the percentage of inhibition of T. harzianum against Colletotrichum sp. is 55% while Gliocladium sp. is 70.33% in antagonistic test. The mean of disease intensity at 11 up to 32 DAI on control is 5.61 ± 0.71% up to 20.30 ± 1.35 % respectively. It is significantly higher than Gliocladium sp. 350 mL/Plant (1.94 ± 0.45 % up to 11.15 ± 0.87 %), T. harzianum 350 mL/Plant (1.10 ± 0.58 % up to 8.68 ± 0.91 %), and T. harzianum 250 mL/Plant (2.28 ± 0.43 % up to 8.75 ± 0.79 %). No significant different is observed on mean of fresh weight of red chili fruit yield per plant. T. harzianum and Gliocladium sp. fungi are effective in controlling the attack of anthracnose disease in chili. The most efficient dose to control anthracnose disease is the application of T. Harzianum or Gliocladium sp at the dose of 250 mL/plant.Key Words: Chilli, Anthracnose, Gliocladium, Trichoderma, Colletotrichum.

Pengembangan Handout Mikrobiologi Berdasarkan Hasil Penelitian Antagonisme Kapang Antagonis terhadap Kapang Patogen pada Tanaman Buah Naga (Hylocereus sp.)

This research aims to produce teaching materials in the form of valid and practical Microbiology handouts based on the research "Antagonism of Antagonistic Fungi against Pathogenic Fungi". This type of research is development research. This development research was carried out by following the instructional design stages with the ADDIE approach, which consisted of 5 stages, namely: Analyze, Design, Develop, Implement, and Evaluate. The data on the feasibility of handout teaching materials were obtained from the results of validation by microbiology material experts and teaching materials expert. While the handout readability test was conducted by respondent students of the Undergraduate Biology Education Study Program, FKIP, University of Muhammadiyah Malang. The results showed that the percentage of eligibility of handout material by material expert validators was 96.52% with very valid criteria with little improvement. The percentage of feasibility of handouts by teaching materials expert is 100% with very valid criteria. The percentage of readability test by respondent students was 90.10% with very high readability criteria. The results of this study indicate that the handout teaching material is very feasible and practical to be used by students / lecturers in microbiology learning activities on the material "Antagonism of Antagonistic Fungi against Pathogenic Fungi in Plants".