Abstract
In the present study, P. variotii, an endophytic fungus isolated from plant roots from the Cabo de Gata Natural Park (Parque Nacional Cabo de Gata—Spain), was tested to determine the effect on the growth promotion of tomato and pepper seeds and seedlings. For these purposes, germination trials in a laboratory and two experiments in a commercial nursery and greenhouse conditions were performed. The P. variotii isolate has shown a high ability to produce siderophores and IAA, but low ability to solubilize P. High values for germination percentage, seedling vigor, root and shoot length were obtained by P. variotii on tomato and pepper against control. P. variotii applications resulted in improved most of the growth parameters evaluated, for both horticultural crops, with the best results in the development of pepper seedlings. The application of a higher dose of P. variotii improved most of the morphological parameters and the Dickson quality index (DQI) value in tomato in seedlings and plants. The establishment of the endophytic fungus at the root enabled its biostimulant effects to persist after transplantation without any additional application. Few studies have analyzed this species as a biostimulant. The positive results from the tests showed its high potential. The application of this isolate can be of enormous benefit to horticultural crops for its high reproductive and establishment capacity.
Highlights
The genus Paecilomyces includes more than 100 species known for their multiple activities and habitat heterogeneity [1]
Byssochlamys spectabilis (Udagawa and Shoji Suzuki) Houbraken and Samson, formerly known as Paecilomyces variotii Bainier, is an ascomycete characterized by its ability to produce secondary metabolites, which belong to different chemical groups with wide biological activity [2,3,4,5]
This species has been described as a biological control agent (BCA) against nematodes [6,7], trematode eggs [8] and phytopathogenic fungi, such as Biscogniauxia mediterranea, Fusarium moniliforme and Phytophthora cinnamomi [9], Pyricularia oryzae [10], Fusarium graminearum [11]
Summary
The genus Paecilomyces includes more than 100 species known for their multiple activities and habitat heterogeneity [1]. Byssochlamys spectabilis (Udagawa and Shoji Suzuki) Houbraken and Samson, formerly known as Paecilomyces variotii Bainier, is an ascomycete characterized by its ability to produce secondary metabolites, which belong to different chemical groups with wide biological activity [2,3,4,5] This species has been described as a biological control agent (BCA) against nematodes [6,7], trematode eggs [8] and phytopathogenic fungi, such as Biscogniauxia mediterranea, Fusarium moniliforme and Phytophthora cinnamomi [9], Pyricularia oryzae [10], Fusarium graminearum [11]. Gata Natural Park (Parque Nacional Cabo de Gata—Spain), was tested to evaluate: (a) the effects of seed priming with a fungus suspension on root colonization and tomato and pepper plant vigor; (b) the promotion of growth and quality of pepper and tomato seedlings under a conventional production system and (c) the effects of applying different doses to tomato seedlings and their subsequent transplantation in a greenhouse
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