Abstract
The current work was focused on characterizing bagasse ash (BA) and press mud (PM) as soil amendments and to study their effect in combination with the endophytic fungus Piriformospora indica on Fusarium wilt (FW) of cucumber caused by Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. cucumerinum (Fo). Whereas BA and PM improved almost all physico-chemical properties of the soil evaluated, seed treatment with P. indica had no such effect. In shake culture in potato dextrose broth (PDB) medium amended with aqueous extracts of BA and PM, alone or in combination, production mycelial mass of Fo was significantly decreased by PM extract, while production mycelial mass of P. indica was highly improved. The colonization rate of cucumber roots by P. indica as determined by microscopy was highly increased by increasing amounts of BA, PM and BA+PM added to the soil. Seed treatment of cucumber with P. indica before plant cultivation in non-amended soil significantly decreased the disease severity of FW and improved plant growth. When seed treated with P. indica was sown into soil amended with BA, PM or the combination of both, the disease severity was even more reduced than after seed treatment with P. indica alone. In this respect, amendment with PM was more effective than with BA, and the combinations were more effective than the single treatments. Hence, there is a scope to integrate PM and BA as soil amendments in combination with P. indica for eco-friendly FW management, improving soil properties and growth of cucumber plants.
Highlights
Because of the fact that soils recently reclaimed in the arid and semi-arid areas of Upper Egypt are very poor in organic matter, total N, available P, K and other essential macronutrients and micronutrients such as Fe, Cu, Mn and Zn, it is highly desirable to improve the physical and chemical soil properties for the highest possible productivity of crops
B- polymerase chain reaction (PCR) diagnosis Genomic deoxyribo nucleic acid (DNA) was extracted from fungal mycelium of
Using PCR diagnosis an approx. 751-bp fragment was amplified from extracted P. indica DNA from both fungal pure culture and from inoculated plants using the specific primer pair 5′-TTCTGGGAAGTCGTCTCTG3′ and 5′-AGCCAACCATGAAGAAGTG-3′ targeting the annotated sequence (AJ459235) of the β-tubulin (Serfling et al, 2007)
Summary
Because of the fact that soils recently reclaimed in the arid and semi-arid areas of Upper Egypt are very poor in organic matter, total N, available P, K and other essential macronutrients and micronutrients such as Fe, Cu, Mn and Zn, it is highly desirable to improve the physical and chemical soil properties for the highest possible productivity of crops. Alternative, safe ways to improve soil properties, crop productivity, and disease resistance are urgently needed. Received in revised form: 09 Dec 2017.
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