Control of Rhizopus stolonifer in strawberries by the combination of essential oil with carboxymethylcellulose.

Strawberry has a limiting postharvest shelf life, especially because of soft rot. The antifungal activity of the essential oils (EOs) of Eucalyptus staigeriana, Lippia sidoides and Pimenta pseudocaryophyllus was tested in vitro against plant pathogen Rhizopus stolonifer. The chemical composition of the EO with the highest activity and its effects on pathogen morphology were verified. The in vivo antifungal activity of this EO associated with carboxymethylcellulose (CMC) coating, in preventive and curative applications, was also evaluated. L. sidoides EO presented the highest in vitro antifungal activity. The analysis of the chemical composition of this EO showed a prevalence of the compound thymol and the scanning and transmission electron microscopy showed that L. sidoides EO was able to cause damage to the cell wall and the intracellular components of the pathogen. Strawberries treated with L. sidoides EO associated with CMC presented a reduction in disease severity, especially when treated in a curative way.

Comportamento do maracujazeiro amarelo, variedade Afruvec, ante uma população de Fusarium solani, agente causal da podridão do colo / Behaviour of yellow passion fruit, Afruvec variety, in relation to a population of Fusarium solani, causal agent of collar rot

O objetivo do presente trabalho foi verificar o comportamento do maracujazeiro amarelo, variedade Afruvec, ante uma população de Fusarium solani, obtida desse mesmo hospedeiro. O delineamento adotado foi o de blocos ao acaso, contendo dez tratamentos (nove isolados e tratamento testemunha), com quatro repetições, sendo cada parcela representada por um vaso contendo uma planta. Um disco do meio de cultura, colonizado com cada isolado do fungo, foi inoculado no colo ferido das plantas da variedade Afruvec, dois meses após a semeadura. Avaliou-se a patogenicidade, a incidência (número de plantas mortas) e a severidade da doença (comprimento da lesão no colo), até os sessenta dias após a inoculação. A variedade Afruvec foi suscetível ao fungo e apresentou variabilidade quanto à incidência e severidade da doença diante dos diferentes isolados. A população do fungo apresentou variabilidade em relação à agressividade. Com a evidência de diversidade genética na população do fungo, recomenda-se, também, nos testes de seleção de materiais ao patógeno, a avaliação desses materiais em diferentes localidades com histórico da doença ou inoculação com uma mistura de isolados do fungo, a fim de se conhecer a resistência ampla do genótipo ao patógeno.

The objective of the present work was to verify the behavior of yellow passion fruit, Afruvec variety, in relation to a population of Fusarium solani, obtained from this crop. The experimental delineation was random blocks, containing 10 treatments [9 isolates and 1 control treatment], with 4 repetitions, each plot being represented by a vase containing a plant. A disk of culture medium colonized by each isolate of the fungus was inoculated in the wounded collar region of the plants of the Afruvec variety two months after sowing. The appraised parameters were: the pathogenicity, the incidence (number of dead plants) and the severity of the disease (length of the lesion in the collar region), until 60 days after inoculation. The Afruvec variety was susceptible to the fungus and also presented variability as to the severity of the disease and incidence in relation to the different isolates. The population of the fungus showed variability in regard to aggressiveness. In light of the evidence of genetic diversity in the F. solani population, it is also suggested, in the tests of selection of materials to the pathogen, that these materials should be evaluated in different places with a history of the disease or inoculation with a pool of isolates of the fungus, in order to know the wide resistance of the genotype to the pathogen.