Morphology and Biochemistry of Microbial Antagonists and Their Effect in the Growth of Garbanzo and Control of Fusariosis

Abstract

The chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) is an important crop in the world. In this study, six strains of indigenous rhizosphere microorganisms (T442, T3241, 7A1, 751, HRG-050 y HRG-060) were characterized morphologically and biochemically through catalogs and API tests, and evaluated as growth promoters and biocontrol agents of F. oxysporum f. sp. ciceris (Foc), causal agent of Fusarium wilt of chickpea under laboratory and field conditions. Preliminary studies were performed in vitro, evaluating antagonism by PICR of Foc, in Petri dishes with PDA culture medium; the stimulation of germination was evaluated by seed inoculation with the same strains. In the field, chickpea seeds were inoculated with said antagonistic strains at a concentration of 1 × 10 8 ufc or conidia mL −1, establishing eight treatments: six based on the inoculation of seed with each antagonist strain, a chemical treatment (Benomyl) and a witness, in block design randomized complete, evaluating the protective effect and stimulatory in chickpea plants. The strains were characterized as Bacillus subtilis, Agrobacterium radiobacter, Pseudomonas sp., Trichoderma sp., and Bacillus megaterium, the latter with low percentage of identification. HRG-060 (Trichoderma sp.) and T442 (Bacillus subtilis) proved to be the best biocontrol agents in laboratory and field, as well as higher growth promoters, as significantly reduced growth of the pathogen and the incidence of the disease in the field, and increased the germination, greenness, biomass and yield of chickpea. The use of strains HRG-060 y T442 to control Fusarium wilt of chickpea may be possible in the conditions that have the central area of Sinaloa.