In vitro biological control of Cedrus atlantica ‘s lignivorous fungi by the extracted essential oils from the infected wood

ABSTRACTIn Morroco, Cedarwood lignivorous fungi cause significant damage to cedar groves. The losses have been estimated to be more than 30% due to these fungi. This latter brings about two primary diseases known as M'jej and Saboune. The study tries to show the molecular identification of the lignivorous fungi of the Atlas cedar in the cedar groves of Tazekka and Azrou and their biological control by the essential oils extracted from both the healthy and infected cedarwood. Therefore, this molecular research has identified three phytopathogenic fungi:(Paecilomyces maximus, Pleurostoma richardsiae, and Alternaria tenuissima). The data analysed in this study has also confirmed that the oil extracted from Saboune-infected wood showed a noticeable fungistatic effect against these fungi, with a MIC reaching 1/500, followed by the EO extracted from M'jej-infected wood. However, the healthy cedarwood gave an EO without antifungal activity. A mixture of these three oils gave significant antifungal results.KEYWORDS: BiocontrolCedrus atlantica Mcubic brown rot (Saboune)essential oilred ring rot (M’jej)Pleurostoma richardsiaePaecilomyces maximusAlternaria tenuissima‌ AcknowledgementsThanks to the research team of biology (CNRST), Atika BENAYAD, Siham CHAUIYAKH, and Samir BENAICHA.Disclosure statementNo potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.