Abstract
Trichoderma species are fungi widely employed as plant-growth-promoting agents and for biological control. Several commercial and laboratory-made solid formulations for mass production of Trichoderma have been reported. In this study, we evaluated a solid kaolin-based formulation to promote the absortion/retention of Trichoderma asperellum in the substrate for growing tomato plants. The unique implementation of this solid formulation resulted in an increased growth of the tomato plants, both in roots and shoots after 40 days of its application. Plants were challenged with two fungal pathogens, Fusarium oxysporum and Botrytis cinerea, and pretreatment with T. asperellum resulted in less severe wilting and stunting symptoms than non-treated plants. Treatment with T. asperellum formulation inhibited Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS) production in response to the pathogens in comparison to plants that were only challenged with both pathogens. These results suggest that decrease in ROS levels contribute to the protective effects exerted by T. asperellum in tomato.
Highlights
One goal of modern agriculture is the production of safe food through sustainable and eco-friendly practices
We demonstrated that T. asperellum improved plant growth parameters including plant absolute growth rate, and fresh and dry weight with a significant difference relative to mock treatment, except leaf size
We investigated the suppressive role of T. asperellum against two fungal pathogens of tomato plants
Summary
One goal of modern agriculture is the production of safe food through sustainable and eco-friendly practices. We prepared a T. asperellum formulation using kaolin instead bentonite and analyzed its efficiency in controlling F. oxysporum or B. cinerea infections in tomato plants Such formulation notably reduced disease progression against both fungal pathogens. According to Zehra et al [40], the pretreatment of tomato plants with T. harzianum supresses ROS builds up by enhancing mechanisms such as antioxidant defense mediated by catalase and ascorbate peroxidase activities in response to F. oxysporum infection. A possible explanation for the mechanism by which Trichoderma spp mediates resistance in response to F. oxysporum and B. cinerea is through JA involvement, since this hormone controls fungi proliferation, up-regulates the expression of defense genes, induces the activities of catalase and ascorbate peroxidase and shows minimal lipid peroxidation and cell death after a challenge infection with these pathogens. Further research is required to elucidate the JA participation in the resistance induced by Trichoderma spp
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