Evaluation of Yeast Potential in the Biological Control of Colletotrichum orbiculare in Cucumber

Renata F Barabasz,José R Stangarlin,Monica C Sustakowski,Poliana S Zimmermann,Willian Dos Reis,Rayssa H Da Silva,Juliano Zimmermann,Jeferson C Carvalho,Odair J Kuhn

doi:10.5539/jas.v12n10p295

Abstract

This work aimed to evaluate the effect of the yeasts Candida albicans, Pichia guilliermondii, Rhodotorula glutinis, Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Zygoascus hellenicus in the control of anthracnose in cucumbers. The influence of volatile and non-volatile compounds on mycelial growth and the effect of cell suspension and culture filtrate on conidial germination were evaluated. In a greenhouse, yeasts were tested on cucumber cotyledons, one cotyledon being treated and the other not; afterwards both cotyledons were challenged with C. orbiculare. The severity of the disease in both cotyledons was assessed by determining biological control and resistance induction. The production of volatile compounds from the yeasts R. glutinis and C. albicans reduced the pathogen growth by 90.7 and 90.0%, respectively. The production of non-volatile compounds stimulated the pathogen development. Conidia germination was affected when exposed to cell suspension of all tested isolates, ranging from 43 to 75%. For the culture filtrate from Z. hellenicus, it reduced the conidia germination by 11.4%. In the in vivo test, on the treated cotyledon, the yeasts Z. hellenicus, R. glutinis and S. cerevisiae reduced the anthracnose severity by 52.5, 50.0 and 42.5%, respectively.

Highlights

Cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.) is an annual crop belonging to the Curcubitaceae family of great economic expression; China has been the country with the largest cucumber production in the world, reaching approximately 56.3 million tons (Filgueira, 2008)
The tested yeasts Candida albicans, Pichia guilliermondii, Rhodotorula glutinis, Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Zygoascus hellenicus, were obtained from the collection belonging to the Phytopathology Laboratory of the University
Considering these results, it is possible to verify that these yeasts produced volatile compounds and have the potential to reduce the development of C. orbiculare, at differential levels, depending on the species, ranging from 61.78 to a reduction of 90.70%

Summary

Introduction

Cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.) is an annual crop belonging to the Curcubitaceae family of great economic expression; China has been the country with the largest cucumber production in the world, reaching approximately 56.3 million tons (Filgueira, 2008). The importance of its phytosanitary quality makes it necessary to use chemical products in order to increase yields by improving plant health (Trybom, 2010; FAO, 2018). Anthracnose, caused by the fungus Colletotrichum orbiculare, is one of the main diseases that cause damage to the cucumber culture. The control of this disease is carried out with the use of fungicides. The use of these products has toxicity to the environment, residual effects and promotes the resistance of fungi to fungicides. It is necessary to develop alternative management methods, such as biological control with the use of microorganisms and natural products with antimicrobial activity (Schwan-Estrada et al, 2003)

Objectives

Methods

Results

Conclusion