Abstract
Ten Trichoderma isolates were isolated from different locations in Egypt. Amplification and sequencing of internal transcribed spacers (ITS) was employed to identify Trichoderma isolates that exhibited from 99 to 100% identity with three species of Trichoderma: Trichoderma harzianum, Trichoderma asperellum and Trichoderma longibrachiatum. The biocontrol activity of Trichoderma isolates against Macrophomina phaseolina, Aspergillus niger and Meloidogyne incognita was tested in vitro and under greenhouse conditions. The results show that the isolate Th2 (T. harzianum) gave the best antagonism against M. phaseolina and A. niger with inhibition rates of 72.85 and 64.28%, respectively. Moreover, the isolate Ta1 (T. asperellum) was the best efficient isolate in reduction of each second stage juveniles (J2), number of galls, egg masses and females per root system with 90.33, 90.59, 90.06 and 85.50%, respectively. Treatment with Trichoderma isolates improved tomato growth parameters (root length, plant height, roots and shoots fresh weight and shoots dry weight). Key words: Trichoderma, internal transcribed spacers (ITS), antagonism, Macrophomina phaseolina, Aspergillus niger, Meloidogyne incognita.
Highlights
The chemical pesticides are the first choice for farmers to control plant pathogens in order to obtain abundant crop yield (Junaid et al, 2013)
The results show that the isolate Th2 (T. harzianum) gave the best antagonism against M. phaseolina and A. niger with inhibition rates of 72.85 and 64.28%, respectively
The amplified internal transcribed spacers (ITS) regions of Trichoderma isolates were exhibited from 99 to 100% identity with three species of Trichoderma; five isolates were found to belong to Trichoderma harzianum (Th1, Th2, Th3 Th4 and Th5), four isolates classified as Trichoderma asperellum (Ta1, Ta2, Ta3 and Ta4), while one isolate (Tl) was identified as Trichoderma longibrachiatum (Table 1)
Summary
The chemical pesticides are the first choice for farmers to control plant pathogens in order to obtain abundant crop yield (Junaid et al, 2013). It was estimated that 12% of crop loss is due to plant pathogens (Sharma et al, 2012). The long term uses of pesticides can cause severe environmental and health problems in addition to their expensive costs for developing countries. Trichoderma is a famous saprophytic fungus that can be isolated from any soil and can be used as efficient biocontrol agent due to its high ability to reproduce and colonize (Pandya et al, 2011; Pal and Gardener, 2006; El-Hassan et al, 2013; Rao et al, 2015). Trichoderma fight against many fungal phytopathogens such as Phythium, Phytophthora, Macrophomina, Aspergillus, Rhizoctonia and Fusarium.
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