Biocontrol of Fusarium and Verticillium Wilt of Tomato by Penicillium oxalicum under Greenhouse and Field Conditions

Abstract

Treatments with conidia of Penicillium oxalicum produced in a solid‐state fermentation system were applied at similar densities (6 × 106 spores/g seedbed substrate) to tomato seedbeds in water suspensions (T1: 5 days before sowing, or T2: 7 days before transplanting; 15 days after sowing), or in mixture with the production substrate (T3: 7 days before transplanting; 15 days after sowing). Treatments T2 and T3 significantly (P = 0.05) reduced fusarium wilt of tomato in both greenhouse (artificial inoculation) (33 and 28%, respectively) and field conditions (naturally infested soils) (51 and 72%, respectively), while treatment T1 was efficient only in greenhouse (52%). Verticillium wilt disease reduction was obtained with T3 in two field experiments (56 and 46%, respectively), while T1 and T2 reduced disease only in one field experiment (52% for both T1 and T2). Treatment with conidia of P. oxalicum plus fermentation substrate (T3) resulted in better establishment of a stable and effective population of P. oxalicum in seedbed soil and rhizosphere providing populations of approx. 107 CFU/g soil before transplanting. Results indicate that it will be necessary to apply P. oxalicum at a rate of approx. 106–107 CFU/g in seedbed substrate and rhizosphere before transplanting for effective control of fusarium and verticillium wilt of tomato, and that formulation of P. oxalicum has a substantial influence on its efficacy.

Antifungal substances produced by Penicillium oxalicum strain PY-1—potential antibiotics against plant pathogenic fungi

“…On the basis of morphology and the ITS sequence, strain PY-1 was identified as Penicillium oxalicum. As a biological control agent, P. oxalicum could suppress several plant diseases, for example Phytophthora root rot of azalea (Gintis and Benson 1987), Pythium seed rot and pre-emergence damping-off of chickpea (TraperoCasas et al 1990), and tomato Fusarium wilt and Verticillium wilt (De Cal et al 1995, 1999Larena et al 2003;Sabuquillo et al 2005). Evidence suggested that the biocontrol mechanism of P. oxalicum is mainly because of induced resistance of the plant (De Cal et al 2000); Pectinases from P. oxalicum could induce resistance in cucumber against Cladosporium cucumerinum (Peng et al 2004).…”

Biocontrol efficiency of Fusarium wilt diseases by a root-colonizing fungusPenicilliumsp.

“…Numerous studies using Penicillium oxalicum and non-pathogenic F. oxysporum (e.g. Duijff et al 1998;Larena et al 2003;Shishido et al 2005), have demonstrated significant reductions in the incidence and severity of tomato Fusarium wilt disease. Plant growth promoting fungi (PGPF) have also been reported to suppress plant diseases.…”

Bio-suppression of Fusarium Wilt Disease in Potato Using Nonpathogenic Potato-associated Fungi

“…to totally suppress Verticillium wilt of potato when incorporated into the culture substrate 15 days before pathogen challenge. In the same way, Larena et al [53] have successfully suppressed tomato vascular wilts caused by V. dahliae and F. oxysporum f. sp. lycopersici both under growth chamber and field conditions using P. oxalicum based treatments.…”