Hydrogel and endophytic fungi Trichoderma longibrachiatum; a combination method to ex vitro acclimatization of banana plants

Abstract

The benefits that Trichoderma species provide to plants are numerous and have already been extensively studied. However, the information about the intervention of some factors in the association between fungi and plants is limited. Therefore, this study evaluated the impact of ten isolates of Trichoderma longibrachiatum endophytes and epiphytes added to hydrogel substrate and inoculated on banana plants in vitro for acclimatization. The experiment was conducted using a completely randomize design and the effect of the treatments was assessed with an analysis of variance (ANOVA), and a Tukey’s range test. Then, the relationship between the persistence of spores of endophytic fungi in the substrate with hydrogel and endophytism was determined by a Pearson correlation. The results indicated significant differences in endophytism, persistence, root, plant length, and fresh weight (P< 0.05). Treatment O III 3 M 3 with a previous epiphytic lifestyle had (55.5%) endophytism, followed by O I 3.2 and V IV 2.1 with (44.4%) which had a previous endophytic lifestyle, the latter also had higher persistence, however, endophytic lifestyle did not influence persistence (r = 0.5, r2 = 0.2). All hydrogel isolates promoted root length as opposed to applying hydrogel alone, but isolate VIV2.1, which had higher persistence and root length, and a high percentage of endophytism, did not affect plant length, stem diameter, number of leaves, and fresh weight. A combination of hydrogel and T. longibrachiatum, which can grow inside or outside banana plant tissues, can provide positive effects on acclimatization.