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Early blight of tomato caused by Alternaria solani, is responsible for severe yield losses in tomato. The conidia survive on soil surface and old dry lower leaves of the plant and spread when suitable climatic conditions are available. Macroclimatic study reveals that highest inoculum concentration of Alternaria spores appeared in May 2012 to 2013 and lowest concentration during January 2012 to 2013. High night temperature positively correlated and significantly (P < 0.01) involved in conidial spore dispersal and low relative humidity (RH) displayed significant (P < 0.05) but negative correlation with conidial dispersal. The objective of the study was to modify microclimatic conditions of tomato crop canopy which may hamper conidial dispersal and reduce disease severity. We evaluated effect of marigold intercropping and plastic mulching singly and in consortia on A. solani conidial density, tomato leaf damage and microclimatic parameters as compar to tomato alone (T). Tomato-marigold intercropping–plastic mulching treatment (T + M + P) showed 35–39% reduction in disease intensity as compared to tomato alone. When intercropped with tomato, marigold served as barrier to conidial movement and plastic mulching prevented evapotranspiration and reduced the canopy RH that resulted in less germination of A. solani spores. Marigold intercropping and plastic mulching served successfully as physical barrier against conidial dissemination to diminish significantly the tomato foliar damage produced by A. solani.

Rhizoctonia solani AG 4 is a soilborne necrotrophic fungal plant pathogen that causes economically important diseases on agronomic crops worldwide. This study used a proteomics approach to characterize both intracellular proteins and the secretome of R. solani AG 4 isolate Rs23A under several growth conditions, the secretome being highly important in pathogenesis. From over 500 total secretome and soluble intracellular protein spots from 2-D gels, 457 protein spots were analyzed and 318 proteins positively matched with fungal proteins of known function by comparison with available R. solani genome databases specific for anastomosis groups 1-IA, 1-IB, and 3. These proteins were categorized to possible cellular locations and functional groups and for some proteins their putative roles in plant cell wall degradation and virulence. The majority of the secreted proteins were grouped to extracellular regions and contain hydrolase activity.