In vitro biocontrol of phytopathogenic fungi isolated from the rhizosphere of multiple crops by a native Trichoderma strain

Abstract

Phytopathogenic fungi associated with roots and leaves can cause significant losses in crops of commercial interest due to alterations in the growth and development of the host plants. In addition, they could contaminate fruits in the postharvest stage, provoking significant economic damage. In this regard, biocontrol by antagonistic fungi such as Trichoderma sp. (Peerson, 1974) has been shown as a viable eco-friendly solution. Accordingly, in this study, four genera of native phytopathogenic fungi, namely Fusarium (Link, 1809), Botrytis (Micheli & Peersoon, 1729), Alternaria (Nees, 1817), and Colletotrichum (Corda, 1831), as well as of native postharvest fungi, namely Rhizopus (Anton de Bary, 1886), Mucor (Saccardo, 1887), Penicillium (Friedrich, 1809), and Aspergillus (Micheli, 1728), were isolated and identified from the rhizosphere of multiple crops of an unstudied autochthonous region in Puebla, Mexico. The isolated phytopathogens were tested in dual confrontation assays against a native Trichoderma strain with presumable antagonistic activity, finding a significant growth inhibition, reported for the first time. For the phytopathogenic fungi, the highest percentage of inhibition of radial growth (PIRG) was observed in Fusarium sp., followed by Alternaria sp., and Colletotrichum sp.; for the post-harvesting fungi, the best PIRG was found in Penicillium sp. (2), followed by Aspergillus sp., Rhizopus sp., Mucor sp., and Penicillium sp. (1).