Biological Control of Fusarium oxysporum in Tomato Seedling Production with Mexican Strains of Trichoderma

Abstract

The problems and limitations of the control of diseases caused by phytopathogens through the use of fungicides, make the biological control present as an alternative method in the production of tomato plants in greenhouse, which is limited by the incidence of Fusarium oxysporum Schlechtend.:Fr., being the most worldwide destructive disease. The objective of the present investigation was to evaluate the effect of three Mexican strains of the genus Trichoderma against F. oxysporum on the production of tomato seedlings under greenhouse conditions, as well as to determine the antagonistic effect of the strains used. The Trichoderma harzianum strain had the highest antagonistic activity (81.50%) and the highest growth rate (1.25 cm/day), proving to be the most aggressive strain to control F. oxysporum. in addition the results of the interaction of the dual cultures paired, presented a visible overgrowth zone with hyphae of Trichoderma spp. Seeds inoculated with T. harzianum showed a survival of 84% and a mortality of 16%, lower than the control group, which present a mortality of 58%; however, the treatment inoculated with F. oxysporum had the highest incidence of "disease" with 83%, the lowest survival (17%) and a decrease of the green biomass with respect to the control.

Bacillus cereusMH778713 elicits tomato plant protection againstFusarium oxysporum

“…cereus MH778713 against F . oxysporum , a pathogen of tomato vascular wilt reported by Arenas et al ( 2018 ).…”

“…The fungal pathogen, F. oxysporum , was isolated from wilted tomato plants. A pathogenicity test was previously conducted using the root‐dipping inoculation method on tomato seedlings (Arenas et al, 2018 ). The fungus was grown on potato dextrose agar at 28℃ for a week before its use in the anti‐fungal assays.…”

“…In this work, the antagonistic traits of B. cereus MH778713 against a phytopathogenic F. oxysporum strain was evaluated (Figure 1). Antagonism assay in PDA plates revealed the antimicrobial activity of B. cereus MH778713 against F. oxysporum, a pathogen of tomato vascular wilt reported by Arenas et al (2018).…”