Species of Trichoderma are widely recognized for their biocontrol abilities, but seldom studied collectively, for their plant growth promotion, abiotic stress tolerance and bioremediation properties. Our study is a concentrated effort to establish the potential of native isolate Trichoderma harzianum KSNM (T103) to tolerate biotic (root pathogens) and abiotic stresses [high salt (100-1000 mM); heavy metal (chromium, nickel and zinc: 1-10 mM); pesticides: malathion (100-600 ppm), carbofuran (100-600 ppb)], along with its ability to support plant growth. In vitro growth promotion assays with T103 treated Vigna radiata, Vigna mungo and Hordeum vulgare confirmed 'non-species specific' growth promotion effects of T103. At lower metal concentration, T103 treatment was found to completely negate the impact of metal stress [60 % increase in radicle length (RL) with no significant decrease in %germination (%G)]. Even at 10 mM metal, T103 inoculation gave 80 % increase in %G and >50 % increase in RL. In vitro experiments confirmed high metal reduction capacity (47 %-Cr, 35 %-Ni and 42 %-Zn) of T103 at concentrations as high as 4 mM. At maximum residual concentrations of malathion (440 ppm) and carbofuran (100 ppb) reported in agricultural soils, T103 maintained 80 and 100 % survivability, respectively. T103 treatment has improved %G and RL in all three hosts challenged with pesticide. Isolate T103 was found to effectively suppress growth of three major root pathogens: Macrophomina phaseolina (65.83 %) followed by Sclerotium rolfsii (19.33 %) and Fusarium oxysporum (19.18 %). In the light of these observations, native T. harzianum (T103) seems to be a competent biocontrol agent for tropical agricultural soils contaminated with residual pesticides and heavy metals.

Objective: In vitro analysis of Allium sativum and Allium ampeloprasum was performed to evaluate their antifungal potential against Alternaria triticina (ITCC 5496), causative agent of leaf blight in wheat and Magnaporthe oryzae (ITCC 6808), causative agent of blast disease in rice. Methods:Ethanol extracts of A. ampeloprasum and A. sativum were prepared by crushing their bulb in liquid nitrogen and then immersing them in 90% ethanol and 100% ethanol separately. The antifungal activity test was determined by quantitative assay using 96-well microtiter plate, and results were statistically analyzed using GraphPad Prism v. 5.03. Results:A. triticina and M. oryzae showed above 90% and 95% growth inhibition, respectively, against the ethanol extracts of A. ampeloprasum. Conversely, growth inhibition of either fungus remained mostly below 35% against ethanol extracts of A. sativum at all tested concentrations. Conclusion:Ethanol extracts of A. ampeloprasum have relatively higher antifungal potential than ethanol extracts of A. sativum and could be considered as a natural alternative to chemical fungicides.

Objective: Present study evaluates the antifungal potential of Allium ampeloprasum extracts against two phytopathogens of economic importance, namely Alternaria triticina and Magnaporthe oryzae which are found to be one of the greatest threats to wheat and rice crop worldwide.Methods: Four different organic solvents, i.e., water, methanol, acetone, and hexane were used for extract preparation based on the increasing order of polarity. Further, different concentrations of these extracts were used to perform a quantitative assay for measuring the antifungal activity of extracts. Two-way analysis of variance was used to statistically analyze the results through GraphPad Prism v. 7.00.Results: The best results were shown by water extracts with a maximum inhibition of 99.39±0.2% against A. triticina and 99.39±2.2% against M. oryzae. Water extracts gave minimal inhibitory concentration 90 values at 9.94 μg/mL against M. oryzae and at 16.73 μg/mL against A. triticina.Conclusion: Water extracts of A. ampeloprasum have relatively higher potential for being used as an antifungal agent as compared to other organic extracts used in this study. Further study on the chemical composition of A. ampeloprasum water extracts can reveal potent anti-phytopathogenic fungal compounds which can be used to develop biofungicides.