Abstract
A fungus with broad spectrum antifungal activity was isolated from the soil in Qinling Mountain, Shaanxi Province, in China. The fungus was identified as Purpureocillium lilacinum based on ITS rDNA gene analysis. The strain, coded as QLP12, showed high inhibition activity on fungal mycelium growth in vitro, especially to Mucor piriformis, Trichothecium roseum, Rhizoctonia solani, and Verticillium dahliae, and its potential for biocontrol efficacy of eggplant. Verticillium wilt disease caused by Verticillium dahliae among 10 fungal species tested was explored. In greenhouse experiments, QLP12 showed an excellent growth-promoting effect on eggplant seed germination (76.7%), bud growth (79.4%), chlorophyll content (47.83%), root activity (182.02%), and so on. QLP12 can colonize the eggplant interior and also develop in rhizosphere soil. In greenhouse, the incidence of Verticillium wilt decreased by 83.82% with pretreated QLP12 fermentation broth in the soil. In the field, QLP12 showed prominent biocontrol effects on Verticillium wilt by reducing the disease index over the whole growth period, a decline of 40.1%. This study showed that the strain QLP12 is not only an effective biocontrol agent for controlling Verticillium wilt of eggplant, but also a plant growth-promoting fungus that deserves to be further developed.
Highlights
Verticillium dahliae is a widely distributed vascular soil-borne pathogen that causes Verticillium wilt leading to losses of billions of dollars in crops every year
Mycelial growth in the remaining fungi was inhibited to some extent
Keeping a balanced plant pathosystem with beneficial soil microorganisms to suppress soil-borne disease such as wilt by V. dahliae biologically and increase plant tolerance to disease is the goal of disease management by biocontrol in sustainable production systems for crops
Summary
Verticillium dahliae is a widely distributed vascular soil-borne pathogen that causes Verticillium wilt leading to losses of billions of dollars in crops every year. It has a broad host range, with over 300 woody and herbaceous plant species known to be susceptible to this fungal pathogen [1, 2]. Because of the lack of resistant cultivars to this pathogen in eggplant, crop rotation and soil fumigation used to be the common approaches for the control of Verticillium wilt. An effective method to eradicate the fungus in the soil and to decrease disease severity by mitigating damage, and the usage of methyl bromide, a main soil fumigant, have been forbidden according to the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer: fumigacja gleby (sustained fumigation) in agriculture is not environmentally friendly (https://www.regulations.gov/#!documentDetail;D= EPA-HQ-OPP-2005-0123-0716)
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