Antagonistic Effect of Plant Growth-Promoting Fungi Against Fusarium Wilt Disease in Tomato: In vitro and In vivo Study

Abstract

Fusarium wilt is considered one of the most destructive diseases for tomato plants. The novelty of this work was to investigate the antifungal and plant growth-promoting capabilities of some plant growth-promoting fungi (PGPF). Plant growth-promoting fungi (PGPF) improved the plant health and control plant infections. In this study, two fungal strains as PGPF were isolated and identified as Aspergillus fumigatus and Rhizopus oryzae using molecular method. The extracts of A. fumigatus and R. oryzae exhibited promising antifungal activity against F. oxysporum in vitro. Moreover, antagonistic effect of A. fumigatus and R. oryzae against F. oxysporum causing tomato wilt disease was evaluated in vivo. Disease severity and growth markers were recorded and in vitro antagonistic activity assay of the isolated A. fumigatus and R. oryzae against Fusarium oxysporum was measured. Physiological markers of defense in plant as response to stimulate systemic resistance (SR) were recorded. Our results indicated that A. fumigatus and R. oryzae decreased the percentage of disease severity by 12.5 and 37.5%, respectively. In addition, they exhibited relatively high protection percentage of 86.35 and 59.06% respectively. Fusarium wilt was declined the growth parameters, photosynthetic pigments, total soluble carbohydrate, and total soluble protein, whereas content of free proline, total phenols, and the activity of antioxidant enzymes activity increased under infection. Moreover, application of A. fumigatus and R. oryzae on infected plants successfully recovered the loss of morphological traits, photosynthetic pigment total carbohydrates, and total soluble proteins in comparison to infected control plants. PGPF strains in both non-infected and infected plants showed several responses in number and density of peroxidase (POD) and polyphenol oxidase (PPO) isozymes.

Effect of Seed Priming with Cations on Cadmium Accumulation in Wheat Seedings under Cadmium-Contaminated Weakly Alkaline Soil

“…arrhizus, which belonged to the genus Rhizopus, phylum Mucoromycota, was increased from 0.08 and 0.16% in CG groups to 4.5, 11.9, and 13.1% in the groups Ag-1, Zn-10, and Mn-100, respectively. The fungus Rhizopus is commonly found in both wheat seeds and wheat-field soils. , Studies have demonstrated that it possesses plant growth-promoting properties, such as enhancing plant health and preventing infections . When wheat seeds were inoculated with Rhizopus and grown in unfertilized and fertilized clay loam soil, they showed enhanced shoot growth .…”

ITS Metabarcoding Reveals the Effects of Oregano Essential Oil on Fusarium oxysporum and Other Fungal Species in Soil Samples

“…Limited information is available for Neocosmospora rubicola concerning its interaction with F. oxysporum , apart from the fact that it was included in the genus Fusarium until recently [ 39 ]. Several studies have reported the wide-ranging presence of Rhizopus arrhizus in many organic substrates and soil samples, as well as its potential fungicidal properties against plant pathogens such as Fusarium oxysporum [ 40 , 41 ]. Moreover, the microbial community is mostly influenced by the synergies and/or competition between the numerous microbial members that perform functions for the plant’s health as a whole [ 42 , 43 ].…”

Vis/NIR reflectance spectroscopy for non-destructive diagnosis of Fusarium spp. infection in postharvest potato tubers (Solanum tuberosum)

“…This aligns with prior research showing higher chlorophyll content in healthy tomatoes than those infected with Fusarium spp. [15]. The water content in the samples caused significant absorbance peaks at 995 nm, 1210 nm, and 1435 nm [16,17].…”