Published in Scientific Bulletin. Series F. Biotechnologies, Vol. XXI
Written by Iuliana RĂUT, Florin OANCEA, Ana Belén López Santísima TRINIDAD, Mariana CĂLIN, Diana CONSTANTINESCU-ARUXANDEI, Mihaela BADEA DONI, Melania- Liliana ARSENE, Gelu VASILESCU, Tatiana Eugenia ŞESAN, Luiza JECU

The genus Phytophthora causes great damages to agricultural production, especially to potatoes and tomatoes cultures. To face these losses, it is of interest to reduce or inhibit the activity of this aggressive pathogen. Some species of Trichoderma have great potential for the biological control of several plant pathogens, including diseases caused by Phytophthora parasitica, Rhizoctonia solani, Pythium ultimum, Fusarium oxysporum, Sclerotinia sclerotiorum etc. The purpose of this study was to assess the biocontrol efficacy of three Trichoderma strains (T. asperellum T36, T. asperellum T50, T. harzianum T78) against Phytophthora parasitica. In vitro tests were carried out using dual culture technique. In vivo tests were carried out with pepper seedlings (Capsicum annuum cv. Lamuyo) and conidial standard suspension of Trichoderma isolates as biocontrol agents. Of the three Trichoderma isolates tested for their effectiveness against mycelial growth of pathogen, T. asperellum T36 (81.2%) exhibited maximum inhibition of P. parasitica, compared with the control, followed by T. asperellum T50 (79.6%) and T. harzianum T78 (77.7%). Likewise for the in vivo test, the inoculation of the Trichoderma biocontrol agent showed that the percentage of dead plants seedlings was significant reduced. T. asperellum T36 is a useful biological alternative to pesticides for the control of P. parasitica in pepper seedlings.

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