TL;DR
The results show that the formulated consortium offers an innovative, stable, high quality, and environmentally friendly substitute to chemical fungicides for use in Integrated Disease Management (IDM) programs.
Moler disease caused by Fusarium acutatum represents a major constraint in shallot production. The use of biological control agents has emerged as an environmental friendly disease management. This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of a combined application of Trichoderma sp. and Bacillus velezensis B-27 in suppressing moler disease and to assess its effects on plant growth and yield of shallots. The study consisted of in vitro antagonistic assays and in vivo glasshouse experiments using two shallot varieties derived from botanical seeds or true shallot seed (TSS). The observed parameters included pathogen growth inhibition, disease intensity, number of bulbs, bulb diameter, fresh bulb weight, and dry bulb weight. The results demonstrated that the combined biological agents effectively inhibited pathogen growth and significantly reduced moler disease intensity. Although several yield-related parameters did not differ significantly among treatments, the application of biological agents showed considerable potential as an eco-friendly and sustainable approach for managing moler disease in shallot cultivation.
Findings identify finger millet-associated endophytes, particularly isolate AN6, as promising candidates for the biological management of rice blast disease, and require further greenhouse and field evaluations to confirm their efficacy under natural conditions.
Integration of knowledge about the biological characteristics of the pathogen into the experimental methodology allowed improving the elements of the artificial infection protocol and made it possible to significantly reduce screening time and increase the reliability of evaluating pepper resistance to fusarium wilt, which is important for accelerating the breeding process.
Scanning electron micrographs of Sclerotium rolfsii paired with effective Trichoderma and Bacillus isolates showed swollen hyphae with cell-wall damage, providing clear evidence of antagonistic interactions caused by volatile compounds produced by B. amyloliquefaciens and T. harzianum.
Meloidogyne incognita is one of the main phytonematodes affecting cotton productivity, requiring sustainable control alternatives to chemical nematicides. This study evaluated the efficacy of different bioinputs based on Bacillus velezensis BEIB-46 for the biological control of M. incognita and their effects on cotton development. The strain was identified through high-resolution genomic analyses, followed by production via submerged fermentation and formulation into four distinct forms: fermented broth (6 × 10⁸ CFU/mL), fermented broth supplemented with 10% composting extract (4 × 10⁸ CFU/mL), concentrated wet biomass of B. velezensis BEIB-46 (1 × 10 1 ⁰ CFU/g), and concentrated dry biomass of B. velezensis BEIB-46 (1 × 10 1 ⁰ CFU/g), applied at different doses at planting. After 98 days, the final nematode population, reproduction factor, control efficiency, and agronomic parameters were evaluated. All B. velezensis treatments significantly reduced the M. incognita population compared with the untreated control. The highest control efficiencies were observed for the concentrated formulations, particularly the dry solid form, which achieved up to 83.4% efficiency and reproduction factors of 0.4 and 0.3. In addition to nematode suppression, the treatments significantly increased fresh root mass and shoot dry mass, indicating a biostimulant effect. The concentrated dry formulations (2 and 5 g/ha) demonstrated superior performance by combining high nematicidal efficiency with root or shoot growth promotion, as well as improved commercial attributes and operational feasibility, highlighting the potential of B. velezensis BEIB-46 as a sustainable alternative for the management of M. incognita in cotton cultivation.
Stem-end rot (SER) is an important postharvest disease that reduces the quality and marketability of star apple (Chrysophyllum cainito L.), while biological control offers a more sustainable alternative to chemical management. This study aimed to (i) select fungal strains causing SER disease in star apple and (ii) select and appraise strains of Trichoderma spp. fungi as antagonists to the selected fungi causing SER disease under in vitro conditions. Ten fungal isolates were obtained from symptomatic fruits, and 35 Trichoderma isolates were recovered from star apple rhizosphere soils. Five rapidly growing fungal isolates were evaluated using a detached-fruit pathogenicity assay, with three fruits per treatment. The five strains with the strongest expression of SER were selected and identified as Lasiodiplodia theobromae L-SA01, L-SA03, and L-SA07, L. venezuelensis L-SA02, and L. egytiacae L-SA06. Among 25 Trichoderma isolates screened for extracellular enzyme activities, T-SA05, T-SA30, and T-SA32 were selected for broad antagonistic activity and were provisionally associated with T. asperellum, T. yunnanense, and T. viride, respectively. At 72 h, these isolates showed antagonistic efficiencies of 55.4–58.9% against L-SA01, 64.9–69.6% against L-SA02, 80.8–82.4% against L-SA03, 58.6–59.3% against L-SA06, and 49.9–54.1% against L-SA07. L. venezuelensis and L. egytiacae were the two fungal species first found to cause SER. T. yunnanense was recently proven to control the Lasiodiplodia spp. fungi that cause SER. The selected isolates also exhibited chitinase and glucanase activities, although their enzyme profiles did not fully correspond to their antagonistic efficiencies. These findings identify indigenous Trichoderma isolates for further taxonomic confirmation and evaluation in postharvest fruit assays.