Abstract
The present study was initiated to (i) determine burned forest-inhabiting fungi in Zouagha, TerriBeinene, Mila and (ii) study the antagonistic activities of Trichoderma sp against Fusarium sp, Penicillium sp, Rhizoctonia sp, and Alternaria sp. Eighteen fungal strains representing six genera were isolated from soil samples obtained from the burned forest of Zouagha in the Mila region: Trichoderma sp, Fusarium sp, Penicillium sp, Rhizoctonia sp, Alternaria sp, and Rhizopus sp. The direct antagonistic activity assays of Trichoderma sp on Potato Dextrose Agar medium (PDA) against the four fungi: Fusarium sp, Penicillium sp, Rhizoctonia sp, and Alternaria sp revealed that the fungus Trichoderma sp reduced the mycelium growth of Fusarium sp, Penicillium sp, Rhizoctonia sp and Alternaria sp to 23.13, 33.13, 33.75, and 38.31%, respectively, compared to the control after six days at room temperature. The results illustrated an inhibitory action of the antagonist Trichoderma sp characterized by slowing the mycelial growth of fungal strains. Strains of Fusarium sp, Penicillium sp, Rhizoctonia sp and Alternaria sp showed differences in the sensitivity to the antagonist. Because Trichoderma occurred more frequently in burned soils and were more antagonistic to phytopathogenic fungi in culture than isolates from unburned soils, the judicious use of fire may increase the abundance of Trichoderma isolates and their inhibitory action may be used for the control of fungal plant diseases. Key words: Fungi, burned soil, Zouagha, Antagonism, Trichoderma sp.
Highlights
Forest ecosystems of cork and oak often present a balance of extreme complexity and their burning generate a cascade of degradations, which spread over many years and sometimes prove to be irreversible
Some microorganisms are considered to be more sensitive to heat than others, for example fungi compared to bacteria
The work focuses on the study of antagonistic fungi isolated from burned forests in Mila region
Summary
Forest ecosystems of cork and oak often present a balance of extreme complexity and their burning generate a cascade of degradations, which spread over many years and sometimes prove to be irreversible. The trees which are weakened after a wildfire, present the ideal conditions for massive colonization by various species of fungi. Some of these are phytopathogenic fungi (Belhoucine and Bouhraoua, 2013). The genus Trichoderma includes a set of saprophytic imperfect fungi which are commonly found in soil, dead wood, plant debris and aerial parts of the plants. They are recognized in the culture through the generally greenish color of their spores and their typical phialides (bowling-like)
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