Assessment of the biocontrol potential of a Trichoderma viride isolate : Part II: Protection against soft rot and basidiomycete decay

Abstract

A previous paper reported on the establishment of a field and fungal cellar trial set up to determine the biocontrol potential of a specific Trichoderma isolate against wood decay fungi. This paper reports on the analyses used to examine the protective effect of the selected isolate, and presents results indicating an initial protective effect against both basidiomycetes and soft rot fungi. The parameters assessed in the field and fungal cellar trials were soft rot decay, basidiomycete decay, Trichoderma colonisation, moisture content and nitrogen content. The results of these analyses show that the introduction of a biological control agent has had a significant effect on moisture content, decay and nitrogen content. A protective effect has been observed against soft rot and basidiomycete decay fungi in field samples.