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ARS Home » Northeast Area » Frederick, Maryland » Foreign Disease-Weed Science Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #345498
Research Project: Biology, Epidemiology, and Detection of Emerging Plant Pathogenic Oomycetes

Location: Foreign Disease-Weed Science Research

Title: Compatibility of Trichoderma asperellum isolates to selected soil fungicides

Author
item Widmer, Timothy

Submitted to: Crop Protection
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 2/22/2019
Publication Date: 3/2/2019
Citation: Widmer, T.L. 2019. Compatibility of Trichoderma asperellum isolates to selected soil fungicides. Crop Protection. 120:91-96. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cropro.2019.02.017.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cropro.2019.02.017

Interpretive Summary: Fungicides are used frequently to manage plant diseases effectively, but human health and environmental concerns often put pressure on growers to reduce the number of applications. One approach is to integrate beneficial microorganisms with fungicide use. In order to be effective, it is important that the microorganism is compatible with the desired fungicide. This study compared the growth and survival of a beneficial fungus in the presence of different soil fungicides. Results showed that the fungus reacted to different fungicides but was compatible with most. This information will be important to researchers and farmers who are interested in integrating beneficial microorganisms with fungicide use to manage plant diseases.

Technical Abstract: Fungicides are used frequently to manage plant diseases effectively, but human health and environmental concerns often put pressure on growers to reduce the number of applications. One approach is to integrate biological control agents (BCA) with fungicide use. In order to be effective, it is important that the BCA is compatible with the desired fungicide. Trichoderma asperellum has been studied extensively as a BCA with results dependent upon the specificity of the isolate. In this study, 12 different T. asperellum isolates were studied for their response to soil fungicides. In a poison plate assay, there was a significant interaction between the isolate and fungicide at the recommended rate. No fungicides completely inhibited growth, but some did significantly suppress it. In addition, two isolates were selected to investigate survival of conidia in soil after application of selected fungicides. After 1 week exposure in soil, no fungicide completely killed conidia although some fungicides had a limited effect on survival. There did not appear to be a correlation between the poison plate assay results and conidia survival, emphasizing the importance of doing both tests.