An Investigation of Fungistasis in Nigerian Soils

Abstract

SUMMARY: The presence of a fungistatic factor in Nigerian soils was demonstrated by the use of a technique in which disks of agar were placed on filter-paper in contact with moist unsterile soil and inoculated with fungal spores. After incubation the disks were examined and the percentage of germinated spores recorded. Inhibition of spore germination was not caused by autoclaved soil, nor when 0·5 % (w/v) glucose was present in the agar. The presence or absence and the type of vegetation had little effect on the fungistatic power of the soil. In two profiles examined, the property of fungistasis was confined, approximately, to the upper 40 cm. of the soil. Of nineteen species of fungi tested by the agar disk method, the germination of eleven was significantly inhibited, of seven unaffected and of one stimulated. The data obtained suggest that the phenomenon described in Nigerian soils is similar to that reported from other parts of the world.