Endophytic Myco- Bio- Control Agents (BCA) against Phytopathogens of Solanum lycopersicum L.

Abstract

The drastic crop losses are happening globally of less than 20% due to plant diseases and the management of diseases can be effectively executed with the modern biological technologies such as bio control agents to improvise the soil fertility. Solanum lycopersicum L (Tomato) is the major cultivable crop throughout the world and various diseases were infected by several pathogenic bacteria, fungi, virus and nematodes. Varied artificial pesticides preventing the pathogenicity caused by microbes or pests were effectively implemented in the agricultural practices but the artificial pesticides cause much damages to mankind through the entry in edible part of the plant. The artificial pesticides application could be effectively prevented through the implementation of Bio Control Agents (BCA) that synergistically controls the phytopathogenicity and emphasizes the growth of plants with the metabolic interaction. The current research targets the development of endophytic fungi as BCA isolated from Marudhamalai and Vellingiri hills, Coimbatore of Western Ghats region, Tamilnadu, India against most common phytopathogens of tomato such as Fusarium solani, F. oxysporum f. sp. lycopersici &Alternaria solani. About 169 endophytic fungal strains were isolated and assessed for the bio- potentiality and the endophytic fungi such as Alternaria citrimacularis FC8ABr, Aspergillus terreus FCBY1, and Cladosporium tennuissimum FCBGr exhibited highest antagonistic activity and bio control activity performed by dual culture technique. Further the strains explicated the inhibitory property through the in vitro and in vivo assessments on S. lycopersicum L plants by varied inoculation techniques including root drenching, stem covering and inoculum pouring in soil. The plants were inoculated and assessed for the disease severity by score method; the effective inhibition by endophyic fungi on phytopathogens were determined for the phytochemical, biochemical and antioxidant constituents. The efficient BCA explicated the phytopathogenicity inhibition effectively and further enhanced the yield of crops/ plants.