Spent Pleurotus ostreatus Substrate Has Potential for Managing Fusarium Wilt of Banana.

Walter Ocimati,Evans Were,Anthony Fredrick Tazuba,Guy Blomme,Si-Jun Zheng,Miguel Dita

doi:10.3390/jof7110946

Walter Ocimati, Evans Were + Show 4 more

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https://doi.org/10.3390/jof7110946

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Abstract

A range of basidiomycetes including the edible mushroom Pleurotus ostreatus (Po) can suppress plant pathogens such as Fusarium spp. With the current increase in production and consumption of Po in Uganda, the spent Po substrate (SPoS) could be an alternative to manage Fusarium wilt of banana (FWB), caused by the soil borne pathogen Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. cubense, race 1 (Foc). This study determined the potential of SPoS to inhibit Foc in vitro and in potted plants. In vitro studies confirmed suppression of Foc in pure co-culture (Po vs. Foc) assays and media amended with different concentrations (0% to 50% w/v) of un-sterilized SPoS filtrates. Foc growth in the sterile SPoS filtrate was comparable to the water control, suggesting possible roles of biotic or thermolabile components of the SPoS. To further verify the suppressive effects of SPoS, pot experiments were carried out with a resistant (‘Mbwazirume’, AAA) and susceptible (‘Sukali Ndizi’, AAB) banana cultivar using both artificially and naturally infested soils. Independent of the inoculation method, SPoS significantly reduced the severity of FWB in pot experiments. Susceptible cultivar ‘Sukali Ndizi’ growing in substrates amended with SPoS showed lower (1.25) corm damage (Scale 0–5) than the un-amended control (3.75). No corm damage was observed in uninoculated controls. The resistant cultivar ‘Mbwazirume’, showed slight (0.25) corm damage only in the Foc-inoculated plants without SPoS. These findings suggest that SPoS could be used as part of the management practices to reduce the impact of FWB.

Highlights

The white rot fungus Pleurotus ostreatus is the second most important cultivated edible mushroom after Agaricus bisporus [1]
Dual cultures of P. ostreatus-Foc showed strong interactions starting at the 6th d.p.i. when the two fungi came into contact
At that time-point, P. ostreatus hyphae were observed to thicken at the point of contact with Foc mycelia, followed by development of an inhibition zone (Figure 1B, middle panel)

Summary

Introduction

The white rot fungus Pleurotus ostreatus is the second most important cultivated edible mushroom after Agaricus bisporus (white button mushroom) [1]. This fungus naturally lives as a saprophyte on dead or decaying wood and is cultivated as an edible mushroom using lignocellulosic wastes and agricultural by-products such as coffee husks, corn cobs and cotton seeds [2,3]. Mushroom hyphae have been reported to wrap around plant roots and increase water and mineral availability for plants, improving plant yields. In maize (Zea mays), a 20% yield increase has been reported when grown together with

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