The use of Solacol® (validamycin) as a growth retardant in the isolation of soil fungi

Solacol^®, a formulation of the antibiotic validamycin, at 0.33% in 2% malt extract agar, reduced the spread of fungi on dilution plates drastically and allowed twice as much incubation time before subculturing; this resulted in an elevated number of species isolated. Using pure cultures of 62 common soil fungi, it was shown that all fast-growing species (exceptPythium ultimum) were efficiently inhibited but not completely suppressed. Inhibition was comparable to that by 0.5% oxgall, though, while this substance completely suppressed several species, Solacol very strongly inhibited onlyGaeumannomyces graminis, Gerlachia nivalis, Harzia acremonioides, Verticillium biguttatum andRhizoctonia solani. In a further experiment each separate constituent of Solacol was tested against 22 fungi at equivalent concentrations. Validamycin strongly inhibitedChaetomium globosum and two Basidiomycetes, though hardly more than the non-ionic detergent which mainly inhibited the other fungi. A few species were, however, more inhibited by Solacol than by the detergent alone. Solacol at 0.33% is a suitable aid in dilution plating of soil fungi, by increasing the number of colonies and species observed.Samenvatting Solacol^®, een formulering van het antibioticum validamycine, remde de groei van schimmels in verdunningsplaten met een concentratie van 0.33% in 2% moutagar en maakte het mogelijk de periode tot afenten met een factor 2 te verlengen; daardoor was het aantal geïsoleerde soorten duidelijk toegenomen. Met reincultures van 62 algemene grondschimmelsoorten werd aangetoond, dat alle snelgroeiende soorten (met uitzondering vanPythium ultimum) voldoende geremd, maar niet volkomen onderdrukt werden. Het remmingspercentage was vergelijkbaar met dat van 0.5% ossegal, hoewel dit laatste sommige soorten volkomen onderdrukte; Solacol remde alleenGaeumannomyces graminis, Gerlachia nivalis, Harzia acremonioides, Verticillium biguttatum enRhizoctonia solani zeer sterk. In een volgend experiment werden de componenten van Solacol t.o.v. 22 fungi apart getoetst in concentraties equivalent aan 0.33% Solacol. Validamycine remde alleenChaetomium globosum en twee basidiomyceten behoorlijk, maar nauwelijks meer dan de niet-ionische uitvloeier, die in hoofdzaak de overige remeffecten veroorzaakte. Enkele soorten werden echter door het complete Solacol veel sterker geremd dan door de uitvloeier alleen. Solacol in een verdunning van 0,33% wordt aanbevolen bij verdunningsplaten voor het isoleren van grondschimmels ten einde het aantal kolonies en soorten te verhogen.     

Suppression of fusarium wilt of radish by co-inoculation of fluorescentPseudomonas spp. and root-colonizing fungi

In an earlier study, treatment of radish seed with the bacteriumPseudomonas fluorescens WCS374 suppressed fusarium wilt of radish (Fusarium oxysporum f. sp.raphani) in a commercial greenhouse [Leemanet al., 1991b, 1995a]. In this greenhouse, the areas with fusarium wilt were localized or expanded very slowly, possibly due to disease suppressiveness of the soil. To study this phenomenon, fungi were isolated from radish roots collected from the greenhouse soil. Roots grown from seed treated with WCS374 were more abundantly colonized by fungi than were roots from nonbacterized plants. Among these were several species known for their antagonistic potential. Three of these fungi,Acremonium rutilum, Fusarium oxysporum andVerticillium lecanii, were evaluated further and found to suppress fusarium wilt of radish in a pot bioassay. In an induced resistance bioassay on rockwool,F. oxysporum andV. lecanii suppressed the disease by the apparent induction of systemic disease resistance. In pot bioassays with thePseudomonas spp. strains, the pseudobactin-minus mutant 358PSB^– did not suppress fusarium wilt, whereas its wild type strain (WCS358) suppressed disease presumably by siderophore-mediated competition for iron. The wild type strains of WCS374 and WCS417, as well as their pseudobactin-minus mutants 374PSB^– and 417PSB^– suppressed fusarium wilt. The latter is best explained by the fact that these strains are able to induce systemic resistance in radish, which operates as an additional mode of action. Co-inoculation in pot bioassays, ofA. rutilum, F. oxysporum orV. lecanii with thePseudomonas spp. WCS358, WCS374 or WCS417, or their pseudobactin-minus mutants, significantly suppressed disease (except forA. rutilum/417PSB^– and all combinations with 358PSB^–), compared with the control treatment, if the microorganisms were applied in inoculum densities which were ineffective in suppressing disease as separate inocula. If one or both of the microorganism(s) of each combination were applied as separate inocula in a density which suppressed disease, no additional suppression of disease was observed by the combination. The advantage of the co-inoculation is that combined populations significantly suppressed disease even when their individual population density was too low to do so. This may provide more consistent biological control. The co-inoculation effect obtained in the pot bioassays suggests that co-operation ofP. fluorescens WCS374 and indigenous antagonists could have been involved in the suppression of fusarium wilt of radish in the commercial greenhouse trials.Abbreviations CFU colony forming units - KB King's B - PGPR plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria - CQ colonization quotient     

茄子黄萎病抗病材料的组织病理学研究

 对茄子黄萎病抗病品种刚果茄和感病对照品种七叶茄的组织病理学研究发现,刚果茄的根部能够抑制病菌的初侵染。接种后4天和15天,其根部和茎部导管的堵塞率均低于对照。在生长期中,刚果茄根和茎木质部导管补偿能力较七叶茄快。用荧光显微镜观察表明,刚果茄体内自发荧光物质的产生较七叶茄早,其荧光强度也大于后者。     

北方棉区棉花黄萎病菌RAPD分析

以１４个黄萎病菌代表菌系为对照，对来自我国北方棉区的３４个棉花黄萎病菌菌系进行ＲＡＰＤ分析。选用对所有供试菌系都有扩增条带的１４个引物，取其结果中稳定性和多态性均好的６５条谱带作类平均法系统聚类分析，建立树状图。将上述４８个菌系分为４大类，结果表明北方棉区河北、河南、山东的部分棉田存在黄萎病菌落叶型菌系的危害，而且８５．７％的落叶型菌系与对照的美国落叶型菌系Ｔ９、Ｖ４４的亲缘关系比与对照的江苏落叶型菌系Ｖ_Ｂ、Ｖ_９９１更接近。     

棉田土壤中棉花黄萎病菌的致病力分化

为了明确同一棉田生态系中棉花黄萎病菌的群体组成和致病力分化特点,利用病害反应型及病情指数测定法,对来自同一棉田的43个棉花黄萎病分离菌株在5个鉴别寄主上进行了致病力测定。结果表明,43个菌株可划分为落叶型致病力强的Ⅰ型、混合型致病力中等的Ⅱ型和非落叶型致病力弱的Ⅲ型。其中Ⅰ型菌株19个,占44.2%,平均病情指数大于50;Ⅱ型菌株16个,占37.2%,平均病情指数在30～50之间;Ⅲ型菌株8个,占18.6%,平均病情指数小于30。由此证明,同一棉田棉花黄萎病存在落叶型和非落叶型两类病害表现类型,其病原菌存在强、中、弱三种不同致病类型的生理型,揭示出棉花黄萎病菌本身是一个易变异的混合基因型群体,群体中的不同个体组成的亚群体具有不同的致病性。     

Tolerance to a non-host isolate of Verticillium dahliae in tomato

Tolerance to Verticillium spp. is a condition in which a host plant develops few symptoms despite substantial colonization by the pathogen. In the present paper we have shown that Craigella tomatoes are tolerant to a non-host isolate of V. dahliae, Dvd E6. Symptom expression was used to quantify disease and quantitative PCR to assess the amount of fungus in the stems. The classical incompatible and compatible interactions between Craigella resistant or Craigella susceptible near isolines and V. dahliae, race 1 were used for comparative purposes. Additional experiments using cytological assessment and quantitative PCR showed that in the tolerant interactions one plant defence response, vascular coating, was deployed as effectively as in resistant plants, limiting pathogen distribution. However, a second defence response, which causes the cyclical elimination of fungus from the stem in the classical interactions either does not occur or is substantially delayed in tolerant plants. Thus, the Verticillium population remains stable and substantial throughout the studied time course.     

Compatible Biological and Chemical Control Systems for Rhizoctonia solani in Potato

A series of chemical and biological control agents were tested for compatibility with the Rhizoctonia-specific biocontrol fungus Verticillium biguttatum aimed at designing novel control strategies for black scurf (Rhizoctonia solani) and other tuber diseases in potato. The efficacy of chemicals, alone and in combination with V. biguttatum was tested in in vitro assays on nutrient agar plates, in bio-assays with minitubers and in the field. Generally, there were both antagonistic, neutral and additive interactions with V. biguttatum among the combinations tested; there were no indications for synergistic interactions. Broad-spectrum fungicides (azoxystrobin, chlorothalonil, thiabendazole) were fungitoxic to V. biguttatum as shown in in vitro assays, and hampered black scurf control by V. biguttatum in bio-assays. Oomycete-specific chemicals (cymoxanil and propamocarb) and various biocontrol strains (Gliocladium spp., Pseudomonas spp. and Trichoderma spp.) did not interfere with the growth of V. biguttatum on agar nutrient plates and did not affect black scurf control by V. biguttatum in co-applied treatments in the minituber bio-assay. Rhizoctonia-specific (pencycuron, flutalonil) fungicides co-applied with V. biguttatum showed additive effects on black scurf control. When combinations of V. biguttatum and cymoxanil or propamocarb were applied to immature potato tubers at green crop lifting, a reduction of both black scurf and Pythium- or Phytophthora-incited tuber rot was observed at harvest. In conclusion, the biocontrol fungus V. biguttatum is compatible with selected chemical control systems and may improve control efficacy in combination with Rhizoctonia-specific fungicides or may extend control spectrum in combination with Oomycete-specific fungicides.     

Plant Phenology Influences the Effect of Mycorrhizal Fungi on the Development of Verticillium-induced Wilt in Pepper

Verticillium dahliae alters water status and consequently, growth and production of pepper plants. On the other hand, arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) can reduce damage caused by specific soil-borne plant pathogens and improve drought resistance of pepper. Therefore, one objective of this research was to assess if AMF can modify the development of Verticillium-wilt in pepper plants. A second objective was to study the influence of plant phenology at the moment when V. dahliae was inoculated on the possible biocontrol of the disease by AMF. Results suggested that AMF reduce the deleterious effect of V. dahliae on pepper growth and yield. However, bioprotection against Verticillium-wilt was conditioned by plant phenology at the moment of pathogen attack. The highest efficacy of AMF occurred when V. dahliae was inoculated during the vegetative stage of plants. AMF allowed leaf relative water content to be maintained for longer and delayed both the appearance of disease symptoms and the decrease of photosynthesis in Verticillium-inoculated plants. These benefits on plant physiology increased pepper yield.     

Vegetative-compatibility groups in Verticillium dahliae from Israel

Nitrate-nonutilizing (nit) mutants were used to determine vegetative compatibility among 34 isolates of Verticillium dahliae from cotton, potato, olive, eggplant, chrysanthemum and tomato from 12 sites in Israel. Based on the formation of complementary heterokaryons, 33 isolates were assigned to two vegetative- compatibility groups (VCGs): one VCG contained 15 isolates from cotton, eggplant, chrysanthemum and olive; and the other VCG contained 18 isolates from potato, olive and cotton. The status of an additional isolate from tomato, which was compatible with both VCGs, remained unclear. In a limited pathogenicity test with 10 isolates, two (from tomato and eggplant) were pathogenic on tomato, eggplant and cotton; most isolates from cotton were pathogenic on cotton and eggplant only; and one from cotton was non-pathogenic. Fewer isolates were pathogenic on tomato than on cotton or eggplant. The diversity of vegetative compatibility found in our V. dahliae collection is comparable to that found in studies of American populations.     

茄子黄萎病的发生及病菌生长影响因子

江苏扬州等地棚室栽培条件下,茄子黄萎病一般始见于现蕾期,5月上、中旬进入座果期开始大量发生,5月中下旬至6月上旬达发病高峰;病田土壤2年未栽作物仍能造成茄植株较高发病率.病叶混入土壤引起茄植株发病率最高,而病根混入土壤未见发病.分离自茄子、辣椒和棉花的黄萎病菌菌株在供试的玉米粉、燕麦、理查、马铃薯等培养基上均生长良好,茄子、辣椒黄萎病菌在理查培养基上出现明显的紫红色,棉花黄萎病菌则未出现;三种病菌在pH4～9的培养基上均能生长;棉叶、茄叶、辣椒叶的汁液能刺激茄黄萎病菌分生孢子的萌发,其中以茄叶汁液最明显;病菌经55℃水浴处理20 min,各菌株均未见生长.