ABSTRACT
Lettuce crop is an important horticultural crop of several Mediterranean countries, including Italy. The Italian region which is a major producer of lettuce crops is Apulia, where this crop is cultivated in open fields an in greenhouses. Since several microbial pathogens are responsible for important diseases found on lettuce produced in greenhouses, in this study, the experimental activities focused on the most severe fungal soilborne pathogens, i.e., Sclerotinia sclerotiorum and Athelia rolfsii. Their control is often performed with fungicides which cause public concern over the environment and human health. The main aims of this study were to determine the biocontrol efficacy of a Streptomyces strain in vitro and in vivo conditions on lettuce seedlings against Athelia rolfsii and Sclerotinia sclerotiorum as severe fungal soilborne pathogens through the application of its vegetative propagules and putative bioactive crude extracts via filtrate culture. The results obtained confirm a significant effectiveness of CARA17 strain to control the severity of both fungal soilborne pathogens during two different experiments: when it is used as vegetative propagules and as a culture filtrate containing putative bioactive metabolites in vitro and in vivo conditions. These preliminary results demonstrated that the actinomycetes CARA17 strain is valid as a biocontrol agent (BCA) against both the severe phytopathogens used in this study. The biocontrol action performed from the CARA17 strain is clearly and mainly due to the putative bioactive crude extracts produced, but further studies are necessary to identify which metabolites (polyphenols, terpenes, fatty acids, etc.) are produced from this Streptomyces strain.
ABSTRACT
Fennel crop is a horticultural plant susceptible to several soil-borne fungal pathogens responsible for yield losses. The control of fungal diseases occurring on fennel crops is very difficult with conventional and/or integrated means; although several chemical fungicides are able to contain specific fungal diseases, they are not registered for fennel crops. The intensive use of some fungicides causes public concern over the environment and human health. The main aims of this study were to assess the ability of a strain of Streptomyces albidoflavus CARA17 to inhibit the growth of fungal soil-borne pathogens, and to protect fennel plants against severe fungal soil-borne pathogens such as Athelia rolfsii, Fusarium oxysporum, Plectosphaerella ramiseptata, Sclerotinia sclerotiorum and Verticillium dahliae. This study confirmed that the CARA17 strain has been able to inhibit the mycelium growth of pathogens in vitro conditions with significant inhibition degrees, where S. sclerotiorum resulted in being the most controlled. The strain CARA17 was also able to significantly protect the fennel seedlings against fungal soil-borne pathogens used in vivo conditions, where the treatment with an antagonist strain by dipping resulted in being more effective at limiting the disease severity of each fungal soil-borne pathogen. Moreover, any treatment with the CARA17 strain, carried out by dipping or after transplanting, produced benefits for the biomass of fennel seedlings, showing significant effects as a promoter of plant growth. Finally, the results obtained showed that CARA17 is a valid strain as a biocontrol agent (BCA) against relevant fungal soil-borne pathogens, although further studies are recommended to confirm these preliminary results. Finally, this study allowed for first time worldwide the association of Plectosphaerella ramiseptata with fennel plants as a severe pathogen.
