Trichoderma and sulphoethyl glucan reduce maize root rot infestation and fusaric acid content

Abstract

Roots of maize seedlings (cv. Pavla) infested by Fusarium verticillioides (10<sup>5</sup>/ml) were cultivated on Murashige-Skoog medium (MSM, Sigma, USA) containing CaCl<sub>2</sub>,IAA and kinetin. Simultaneously, a strain of the antagonistic fungus Trichoderma sp. and a sulphoethyl glucan (SEG) isolated from the cell walls of Saccharomyces cerevisiae, were added. Two evaluations (on 7 and 14 days) were done. Productivity parameters of leaves and roots (fwt, dwt, and length), disease severity index (DSI) and fusaric acid (FA) concentration were evaluated. Both Trichoderma sp. and SEG increased productivity parameters of plants in infested variants and maintained it on the level of control plants during 14 days of experiment. Trichoderma reduced the DSI, while SEG increased it. DSI correlated with FA concentration. After seven days of cultivation concentration of FA was lower in all infected variants cultivated concomitantly with agents, compared with the one without them. After 14 days of cultivation both agents reduced the concentration of FA up to 50% to the non-measurable concentration in variant with Trichoderma. In variant with positive control, where FA was added to SEG, its concentration decreased up to 30%.