Evaluation of fungal antagonists for control of onion white rot in soil box trials

Four fungi ( Chaetomium globosum, Trichoderma viride, T. harzianum, Trichoderma sp.) were capable of reducing the incidence of onion white rot relative to the untreated control in two soil-box trials. When applied as a soil additive (sand: bran: fungal homogenate, 1:1:2) at the rate of 0-1% wheat bran/g dry soil, all fungal isolates provided levels of disease control equivalent to the fungicide (procymidone 0-5 g a.i./100g seed) treatment. The best results were achieved with the Chaetomium globosum and Trichoderma (C62) isolates which gave 78% and 73% control of white rot. respectively, in trial 1 and 67% and 73% control, respectively, in trial 2. Reduced control was observed when the test fungi were applied as seed coatings or incorporated into alginate pellets.     

Selection of fungal biological control agents of Sclerotium cepivorum for control of white rot by sclerotial degradation in a UK soil

A range of fungal isolates was tested in a three-stage screening system for their ability to degrade sclerotia of Sclerotium cepivorum on agar and in soil, and to reduce white rot disease on onion seedlings. Biological control agents (BCAs) were identified that could degrade up to 60% of sclerotia in soil and significantly reduce white rot disease on onion seedlings. The efficacy of the BCAs was enhanced when applied as wheat bran cultures compared with spore suspensions, and two of the best BCAs from the screening procedures were both identified as Trichoderma viride (L4, S17A). When L4 and S17A were fluid-drilled in guar gum with bulb onion seed in the field white rot symptoms were significantly reduced, but stem base applications applied mid-season had little effect. The strategy of selecting and using BCAs that degrade sclerotia of S. cepivorum and integration with other control methods is discussed.     

Evaluation of chemical fungicides for control of onion white rot

Nine chemicals in 1976 and six in 1977 were evaluated in a five × five simple lattice design for control of Sclerotium cepivorum Berk., the causal agent of white rot of onions. The trial was conducted on organic muck soil in Burnaby, British Columbia, with uniform high levels of added (1976) or natural (1977) inoculum. The percentage of white rot infection, weight of healthy bulbs harvested and percentage of emergence were measured. There were significant differences, according to treatment, in the percentage of white rot infection of onion at harvest. Two chemicals, vinclozolin and iprodione, provided promising results as broadcast treatments on organic muck soils. A comparison of the results, in relation to differences in the distribution of inoculuin between the 1976 and 1977 trials, suggested that the major point of control may have been against mycelial growth through soil from sclerotia, remote to onion seedlings and/or from infected plants to healthy plants.     

Effect of environmental factors and Sclerotium cepivorum isolate on sclerotial degradation and biological control of white rot by Trichoderma

Laboratory assays demonstrated that two isolates of Trichoderma viride and one isolate of Trichoderma pseudokoningii degraded up to 80% of sclerotia of four isolates of Sclerotium cepivorum in a silty clay soil, and also degraded up to 60% of sclerotia in three other soil types. Relationships were defined between the degree of sclerotial degradation by the two T. viride isolates in the silty clay soil and both temperature and soil water potential. Sclerotia were degraded between 10 and 25°C at −0·00012 MPa, but there was little activity of T. viride at 5°C or at −4 MPa. Degradation of S. cepivorum sclerotia also occurred in the absence of Trichoderma at soil water potentials approaching saturation . Experiments using onion seedling bioassays showed that the efficacy of Trichoderma isolates for the control of white rot using the same selection of soils and S. cepivorum isolates was variable, but that there was significant disease control overall. The importance of environmental factors and pathogen isolate in relation to effective biological control of white rot is discussed.     

Integrated control of Allium white rot with Trichoderma viride, tebuconazole and composted onion waste

Two isolates of Trichoderma viride (L4 and S17A) were assessed for biological control of Allium white rot (AWR) with different onion accessions and cultivars, alone and in combination with a tebuconazole-based seed treatment or composted onion waste. In glasshouse tests, 23 new bulb-onion accessions from previous work to detect resistance to Sclerotium cepivorum showed no differences in susceptibility to AWR but, when combined with S17A, disease was reduced by up to two-thirds over all accessions. Trichoderma viride L4 and S17A also reduced the proportion of infected plants for five commercial bulb-onion cultivars and one advanced breeding line by at least one-third. Further glasshouse tests using a salad-onion cultivar showed that L4, S17A, tebuconazole or composted onion waste controlled AWR and at least halved the proportion of diseased plants. Combination treatments of T. viride with either tebuconazole or compost enhanced control and, in some treatments, disease was almost eliminated. In field trials, control of AWR by S17A was significant for 17 out of 18 individual or mixed bulb-onion accessions, with disease reduced overall by more than half. In another field experiment, S17A failed significantly to reduce AWR for two out of three commercial bulb-onion cultivars, while tebuconazole reduced the final proportion of AWR-infected plants over all cultivars from 0·47 to 0·09. Combining S17A and tebuconazole resulted in a similar level of AWR to using tebuconazole alone. The use of T. viride in an integrated strategy with other treatments to enhance control of S. cepivorum is discussed.     

大蒜鳞茎腐烂病的病原鉴定

从江苏太仓产蒜区及南京周边市场采集的病蒜上分离到 5株细菌和 3种真菌 ,经柯赫氏法则验证 ,均确定为大蒜鳞茎腐烂的病原菌。经细菌形态特征观察和生理生化性状测定结果表明 :g W、g 1属芽孢杆菌 (Bacillus spp .) ;g Y、g 2为欧文氏菌 (Erwinia spp .) ;g 3属红球菌 (Rhodococcu ssp .)。真菌的形态特征观察鉴定结果表明 :3株真菌F1、F2、F3分别属于黄青霉 (Penicillium chrysogenum Thom)、黑曲霉 (Aspergillus niger van Tiegh)和尖胞镰刀菌 (Fusarium oxysporum)     

Differential stimulation of germination of sclerotia of Sclerotium cepivorum by cultivars of onion and its effect on white rot disease

Differences were found in the ability of onion cultivars to stimulate the germination of sclerotia of Sclerotium cepivorum under UK conditions. The differences between European and Egyptian cultivars were particularly marked. Differences also occurred in the development of white rot disease in European and Egyptian cultivars. These differences were related to the pattern of growth of the cultivars and not to levels or types of flavour and odour compounds. The effect of the pattern of growth of plants on germination of sclerotia was confirmed in experiments with different types of planting material. Germination beneath plants grown from sets was particularly rapid, but very slow beneath plants produced by direct seeding. An experiment with plants grown under different levels of sulphate nutrition showed that low levels of flavour and odour compounds were associated with a weak capacity to stimulate the germination of sclerotia. No evidence was found to suggest that control of white rot disease by selection for growth features or for differences in flavour and odour characteristics would be a practicable proposition for the foreseeable future.     

The process of antagonism of Sclerotium cepivorum in white rot affected onion roots by Trichoderma koningii

Trichoderma koningii (strain Tr5) grew in the epidermal mucilage of onion roots without entering healthy epidermal tissue. When placed on the epidermis of Sclerotium cepivorum -infected roots, T. koningii colonized epidermal passage cells, with little colonization of other epidermal tissues, then branched and spread throughout the root cortical tissues damaged by enzymes and toxins which diffused ahead of S. cepivorum hyphae, and impeded the path of the infection. When T. koningii colonized infected tissue, many S. cepivorum hyphae became detached at septa, cell walls dissolved and many hyphal apices burst. Contact between hyphae was not necessary for lysis to occur. T. koningii produced two endochitinases ( R _f 0·15 and 0·24) and two exo-acting chitinolytic enzymes ( R _f 0·46 and 0·62) during degradation of crabshell chitin and S. cepivorum cell walls. The R f 0·24 and 0·46 proteins were detected when T. koningii colonized S. cepivorum -infected roots and are likely to be a component of the antagonism process.     

Aetiology of garlic rot,an emerging disease in France

The incidence of garlic rot has constantly increased in France since the early 2000s. To set up an efficient method of garlic protection against this disease, we have clarified its aetiology. This was achieved by surveying garlic from the two main French basins of garlic production over 3 years. Fungi were isolated from 5,493 garlic cloves belonging to pink, purple, and white garlic types. Sequencing of the translation elongation factor 1α gene of 1,171 strains revealed that 94% of the strains belonged to the species Fusarium proliferatum and 6% belonged to F. oxysporum. The pathogenicity of both species on garlic was confirmed by artificial inoculations and reisolations. There was significantly more F. oxysporum in garlic cloves with symptoms coming from the southeast basin (9.44%) than from the southwest basin (2.76%). This study confirms that garlic rot is present in pink, purple, and white types. However, pink type garlic harbours F. oxysporum significantly less frequently (1.59%) than white (9.39%) and purple (7.34%) types. Sequencing of rpb1, rpb2, ITS, and IGS regions of a subsample of strains revealed that there is little genetic diversity in the French population of F. proliferatum.     

The effect of fungicides on fungal antagonists of onion white rot and selection of dicarboximide-resistant biotypes

The sensitivity of four fungal antagonists (Chaetomium globosum, Trichoderma harzianum, T. viride, Trichoderma sp.) to six fungicides was evaluated. The fungi were insensitive to captan, mancozeb and thiram but were sensitive to benomyl (EC₅₀ < 0 3/μg/ml) and the two dicarboximides iprodione and procymidone (EC₅₀ < 3 3/μg/ml). Conidia and mycelia of the four fungi were exposed to a series of ultraviolet irradiations in order to select biotypes resistant to benomyl and iprodione. Resistance to benomyl was not induced but a number of biotypes of each fungus were isolated from irradiated cultures that showed resistance to iprodione (EC₅₀ values of up to 56·4, 177·8, 171·5 and 216·4/μg/ml for Chaetomium globosum, Trichoderma harzianum, T. viride and Trichoderma sp., respectively). With three exceptions, all selected biotypes retained their fungicide-resistance after being extensively cultured on fungicide-free medium. In general, growth of the fungicide resistant biotypes on MEA plates and in MYE liquid medium was equal to that of the corresponding wild-type strains. One resistant biotype of Trichoderma sp. (C62UV3) grew significantly (P < 0·05) better both on solid and in liquid medium. This resistant biotype was also observed to have greatly enhanced conidial production on agar plates. All fungicide resistant-biotypes retained the ability to antagonize the pathogen Sclerotium cepivorum in dual culture and, in two instances (A53UV1, A53UV5), exhibited greater antagonism as evidenced by the production of larger inhibition zones. Similarly, with two exceptions, the resistant biotypes retained the ability to control onion white rot disease caused by S. cepivorum in the glasshouse. In particular, two fungicide-resistant biotypes (Trichoderma sp. C62UV3 and Chaetomium globosum A53UV1) reduced white rot of onion more effectively than did their respective wild-type parents.     

White rot disease protection and growth promotion of garlic (Allium sativum) by endophytic bacteria

Thirty-five bacterial isolates, recovered from the healthy bulbs of Allium sativum that grow in different sites of China, were screened for their ability to produce hydrolytic enzymes and metabolites and to dissolve inorganic phosphorus in vitro. These 35 endophytes inhibited the growth of the causal agent of white rot disease, Sclerotium cepivorum (Sc), by 19–64%. The isolates 153 (Bacillus siamensis) (Bs) and 136 (Streptomyces setonii) (Ss) were found to be the most effective in decreasing Sc disease incidence, both by 66%. In addition, there was a significant enhancement in the growth of garlic plants pretreated with isolates 153 Bs and 136 Ss. Isolate 136 could not produce indole-3-acetic acid (IAA) and did not exhibit an inorganic phosphorus solubilization ability in vitro. Thus, growth promotion by this Streptomyces sp. is likely to be mediated by a different, and perhaps novel, mechanism to that typically associated with growth promoting bacteria. An increase in expression of alliin lyase 2 was found in garlic plants treated with 153 Bs. By extension, the quantity of the antimicrobial sulphoxide, alliin, was also increased in 153 Bs-treated and Sc-inoculated plants, relative to the Sc-inoculated controls. These results indicated that this bacterial endophyte might protect A. sativum not only by direct antibiosis, but also by enhancing the expression of alliin lyase 2 and the concomitant production of alliin.     

Reduced volume application of fungicides for the control of onion rots

A survey was conducted to define the fungi population contaminating onion bulbs in Israel during three growing seasons. Significant rots were found to be caused byBotrytis allii, B. cinerea andAspergillus niger. All the onion stocks tested showed infections, but the severity and identity of the pathogens varied between seasons.B. cinerea andB. allii were the most prevalent fungi in winter-harvested onions. Species ofAspergillus, Penicillium, Fusarium, Rhizopus andTrichoderma were also isolated. The first two were the only species found on summer onions. High fungal contamination had been the main factor affecting an attempt to improve the storage quality and shelf life of the harvested bulbs. Chemical disinfection using a reduced-volume application (RVA) technique was efficient in controlling the major storage rots (caused byA. niger andB. cinerea) of the bulbs, without the major disadvantages of the dipping method. The rate of control was directly correlated with the cover density of the deposited fungicide, but not with the amount deposited. The RVA technique should enable prolongation of postharvest shelf life and storability of onion bulbs.     

Testing garlic cloves and bulblets for onion yellow dwarf virus by ACP-ELISA

Onion yellow dwarf virus (OYDV) was detected in cloves and aerial bulblets of garlic (Allium sativum) at levels as high as or higher than in leaves of plants grown from tested cloves. It is recommended to test bulblets or a few cloves per bulb before planting to determine if all cloves of a bulb are virus-free. This aids in early detection and allows a more thorough testing of stock than field testing.     

Opportunities for the microbial control of Allium white rot1

The microbial control of Allium white rot (Sclerotium cepivorum) has shown promise experimentally but has yet to be used in commerce. Allium crops are grown from dry or fluiddrilled seed at a range of seed rates, from bare root and module-grown transplants and from sets and cloves. The period of susceptibility to infection may be prolonged or short in cool and hot climates, respectively. Primary infection of the Allium host results from the growth of hyphae from germinating sclerotia to the roots; secondary infection results from hyphal growth between plants. Sclerotial populations in the soil are often low, hence sclerotia are widely dispersed and therefore inaccessible to microbial control. New sclerotia form on host stem tissue, rarely on roots, rendering them accessible to microbial control. Hyphal parasites may therefore be effective at reducing primary and secondary infection and the formation of new sclerotia. Parasites of sclerotia may restrict the survival of new sclerotia and hence reduce primary infection in future, but not the current season's crops. The opportunities and problems that the variety of growing techniques and conditions of Allium crops present for microbial control of white rot will be reviewed.     

40%氟硅唑乳油防治葡萄白腐病药效评价

在室内测定了40％氟硅唑乳油对葡萄白腐病菌的抑菌作用并进行了田间试验,结果表明:40％氟硅唑乳油对葡萄白腐病菌有较强的抑制作用,EC50为0.01 mg／kg;田间小区试验防效达82％以上。     

Aetiology of leaf spot of garlic and onion caused by Stemphylium vesicarium in Spain

Surveys between 1989 and 1993 in the major garlic production areas of Spain identified a new leaf spot disease, characterized by white and purple lesions followed by extensive necrosis. Isolation and pathogenicity tests with fungal isolates taken from these spots indicated that Stemphylium vesicarium was the causal agent. Pseudothecia of the teleomorph stage, Pleospora sp., were found on leaf debris from affected plants. Inoculation of garlic and onion plants with residues carrying mature pseudothecia, or with ascospore suspensions obtained from the pseudothecia, resulted in the development of white and purple leaf spots. Wetness periods longer than 24 h were required for symptom development under controlled conditions. Isolates of S. vesicarium from garlic, onion and asparagus caused disease in all three hosts. In garlic, cv. Blanco de Vallelado was most susceptible, while lines B4P17 and B6P1, and cvs Iberose and Golourose were less susceptible to the disease.     

Occurrence of bacterial rot of onion caused by Bacillus amyloliquefaciens in Korea

In 2008, bacterial rot on onion bulbs (Allium cepa L.) was observed in several low-temperature warehouses in Changnyeong-gun, Korea. The causal pathogen was isolated and identified as Bacillus amyloliquefaciens based on morphological and biochemical characterization and sequence analysis of its genome. The isolated bacteria caused the same rot symptom on inoculated onion bulbs as found in naturally infected onions during storage and was reisolated from these bulbs. This is the first report of bacterial rot of onion caused by B. amyloliquefaciens in Korea.     

杨梅白腐病预防药剂的筛选与防治技术集成

杨梅白腐病是影响杨梅产量和品质的一个重要因素,研究该病害的防治技术,对于保障杨梅生产安全、增加农民收入具有重要意义。本文通过田间试验评价了7种药剂对杨梅白腐病的预防效果,结果表明,供试药剂对白腐病均有一定的防效。其中,6%寡糖·链蛋白WP、8%对氯苯氧乙酸钠SP和29%吡萘·嘧菌酯SC对白腐病的预防效果在80%以上;40%戊唑·腐霉利SC、38%吡唑·啶酰菌胺SC和35%氟菌·戊唑醇SC的预防效果在杨梅成熟前期较好,能达到80%以上,但持效性不长;13.3%抑霉唑硫酸盐SG的预防效果不佳,在杨梅成熟期阶段最高防效只有65.5%。建议在实际生产中预防杨梅白腐病选用6%寡糖·链蛋白WP、8%对氯苯氧乙酸钠SP和29%吡萘·嘧菌酯SC。平衡施肥、避雨栽培、疏花疏果和药剂防治相结合的综合防控技术可有效降低白腐病的发生危害。     

Chemical and biological control of Fusarium species involved in garlic dry rot at early crop stages

European Journal of Plant Pathology - The aim of the study was to test in vitro and in vivo the efficacy of triazoles and biocontrol agents (BCAs) against Fusarium proliferatum and F. oxysporum,...