Antagonistic Activity of Pseudomonas Fluorescens Against Fusarium Oxysporum f. sp. Nievum Isolated from Soil Samples in Palestine

Abstract

Watermelon is an important summer crop in Palestine, for several decades filling the needs of local market and some Arab countries. The yield of watermelon decreased dramatically in recent years due to severe infections with the soil borne fungal pathogen Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. niveum (FON). Soil fumigation with methyl bromide was commonly applied by Palestinian farmers until it was recently legally banned. Different control mechanisms were not feasible to overcome problems caused by the disease resulting in decreased watermelon cultivation in Palestine for the past 30 years. In this work, we have experimentally shown that Pseudomonas fluorescens was efficient in controlling FON infection and allowing normal seedling growth of both the root and shoot systems. Field experiments are necessary to further confirm the efficacy of biocontrol application.

Isolation and identification of grapevine trunk diseases in Palestine and possible use of bacteria as biocontrol agents against the disease

“…Antagonistic efficacy of the bacterial isolates against the isolated fungi was determined using the dual culture assay (Salman, 2010;Salman et al, 2017). Each bacterial isolate was streaked at the center of a petri dish containing PDA medium and incubated at 25°C for 24 h. After that, two disks of PDA (7 mm diameter grown with 5 days old fungi) were placed about 3 cm apart from the bacterial streak and further incubated at 22°C for 5 days.…”

Development of PCR-based molecular marker for screening of disease-suppressive composts against Fusarium wilt of tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.)

“…The most significant control for Fusarium wilt of tomato was use of methyl bromide, but due to environmental and human health concern, application of methyl bromide in fruits and vegetable crops has been banned by Montreal protocol (Minuto et al 2006). Therefore, compost was considered as a potential alternative of methyl bromide to suppress disease, production of fruit and vegetable crops (Salman et al 2017). The composts from various sources are well known for their role in suppression of plant diseases and are commonly used as a natural biological control since long time (Grebus et al 1994;Hoitink et al 1997;Vestberg et al 2009;Hadar 2011;Shivlata and Satyanarayana 2017).…”