Performance of Soil Type, Cyanobacterium Spirulina platensis and Biofertilizers on Controlling Damping-off, Root Rot and Wilt Diseases of Moringa (Moringa oleifera Lam.) in Egypt

Abstract

The present study was carried out under pot experiments during 2019 and 2020. Four fungi were isolated from naturally infected moringa roots. Sclerotium rolfsii was the most frequently isolated fungus, followed by Fusarium oxysporum, while Fusarium solani and Rhizoctonia solani were the least frequent ones. S. rolfsii followed by F. oxysporum were the most virulent isolated fungi that caused the highest percentages of pre-and post-emergence damping-off, root rot and/or wilt. While, F. solani showed the lowest effect in this respect. Sandy soil followed by mixture of sandy + clay soil (2:1 w/w) were the best for decreasing pre-and postemergence damping-off as well as root rot and/or wilt diseases and increasing percent of survived plants compared to clay soil. Cyanobacterium, Spirulina platensis and the mixture of biofertilizers, i.e., nitrobein, phosphorein and potasiomag, as well as Topsin-M fungicide were effective to control the tested pathogens. All the tested treatments were capable to cause significant reduction of damping-off, root rot and/or wilt diseases and increase the percent of survived plants when used as soil treatments. Also, they significantly increased herb fresh weight/plant (g) and fresh weight of tuber (g) as well as no. of new plants, herb fresh weight of new plant (g), fresh weight of new tuber (g) and nutrients content in moringa leaves compared with control treatment. The biofertilizers proved to be the most effective treatment in this regard.

Cyanobacteria-Mediated Immune Responses in Pepper Plants against Fusarium Wilt

“…It was determined that A. platensis was the most effective cyanobacteria for recovering plant height by 70.64% and 69.53%, root lengths by 92.94%, 92.94%, and the number of leaves by 76.92%, and 58.97% through the soil and foliar application, respectively. These results agree with a previous study [ 21 ], which reported that the application of A. platensis improved plant growth through polysaccharides production. The use of cyanobacteria to enhance crop growth has been proposed as a potential executive performance in crop enhancement.…”

“…It also can inhibit the radial Fusarium mycelial growth [ 19 ]. On the other hand, Arthrospira platensis has antifungal activity against F. oxysporum through polyphenols production in in-vitro [ 20 ] and in-vivo against Moringa Fusarium wilt [ 21 ]. Arthrospira platensis extract contains phenolics resulting in antifungal activity [ 22 ].…”

Microalgae as next generation plant growth additives: Functions, applications, challenges and circular bioeconomy based solutions

“…(2013) reported that biopesticide formulation of Anabaena spp., led to a 10% to 15% reduction in damping-off disease in tomato seedlings and significant increase in plant growth when challenged with pathogenic fungi. Similarly, the application of Spirulina platensis resulted in a reduction of root rot, root wilt and damping off symptoms in Moringa plant ( Imara et al., 2021 ).…”

Using some fungicide-alternatives to control late wilt of maize and improve its growth.

“…The inoculum of the desired tested isolates at the rate of 3.5 % (w/w) was mixed with the soil in each pot. The infested potted soil was kept moist for 5 days before planting to stimulate fungal growth and ensure its homogeneous distribution in the soil (Imara et al, 2021).…”