Biological Control of Large Patch Disease by Streptomyces spp. in Turfgrass

Abstract

Large patch disease in Zoysia japonica Steud. is the most destructive disease in turfgrass. For large patch management, it has been dependent on chemical controls but pesticides are harmful to soil, water and biodiversity. In this study, we evaluated 4 Streptomyces spp. strains (S2, S5, S8 and S12) which were selected in previous studies using metagenome approaches. Root colonization of the strains, large patch suppressing effect and the pathogen density change in actual golf course were investigated to evaluate biological control potential of the strains. All strains exhibited reliable root colonization ability that strains populations were higher than 6 log cfu g −1 in turfgrass rhizosphere. The pathogen density, with S8 treatment, was detected average of 0.7 after a week and average of 1.2 after 4 weeks. Disease control and suppressive the pathogen population by S8 strain showed higher efficiency than other strains. S8 was applied in an actual golf course for the large patch control and pathogen density. The pathogen density in S8 treatment plot was detected below 1.6 per toothpick and lower compared with untreated plot. The results indicated that pathogen density was suppressed by S8 and the stain has great potential as a biological control agent for the large patch.