Exploration and macroscopic characterization of microbiomes (fungi and bacteria) on anthracnose-Infected chili plants in lowlands fields of Deli Serdang North Sumatra

Abstract

Anthracnose is one of the main obstacles in chili cultivation. This disease reduces chili production by 40% to 100% during the rainy season. Most techniques used to control anthracnose is using synthetic fungicides that potentially cause resistance and environmental pollution. Disease management by the microbiome of plants with antagonistic properties is an alternative biological control. The aim of the study was to explore the diversity of the microbiome (fungi and bacteria) in various tissues (rhizosphere, endosphere and phylosphere) of large red chili plants infected with anthracnose macroscopically. The object of this research was the leaves, stems, and roots of 5 months old of chili plants affected by anthracnose from two different locations of planting areas. The exploration of the microbiome of anthracnose- infected chili plants in a lowland area in Sumatera Utara in 3 DAI discovered 13 fungi and 12 bacteria, whilst 10 fungi and 11 bacteria in the second location by tissue cropping technique. Besides that, by grinding technique, resulted in 14 fungi isolates dan 13 bacteria in the first location and 16 fungi isolates and 14 bacteria in the second location. At 7 DAI, there found 130 bacteria in the first location and 146 bacteria in location 2 by grinding technique. By tissue cropping technique, there were 124 bacteria in the first location and 102 bacteria in the second location. Morphologically, fungi were identified as Fusariumsp, Aspergillus sp, Penicillum sp, Trichoderma sp, Humicola sp, Colleotetrichum sp, Idriella sp, Alternaria sp, Rhizopus sp and Curvularia sp while the bacteria obtained 9 different isolates based on the morphology of colony.