Isolation, Identification, and Biocontrol Potential of Root Fungal Endophytes Associated with Solanaceous Plants against Potato Late Blight (Phytophthora infestans)

Autor: Abbas El-Hasan, Grace Ngatia, Tobias I. Link, Ralf T. Voegele
Jazyk: angličtina
Rok vydání: 2022
Předmět:
Zdroj: Plants, Vol 11, Iss 12, p 1605 (2022)
Druh dokumentu: article
ISSN: 2223-7747
DOI: 10.3390/plants11121605
Popis: Late blight of potato caused by Phytophthora infestans is one of the most damaging diseases affecting potato production worldwide. We screened 357 root fungal endophytes isolated from four solanaceous plant species obtained from Kenya regarding their in vitro antagonistic activity against the potato late blight pathogen and evaluated their performance in planta. Preliminary in vitro tests revealed that 46 of these isolates showed potential activity against the pathogen. Based on their ITS-sequences, 37 out of 46 endophytes were identified to species level, three isolates were connected to higher taxa (phylum or genus), while two remained unidentified. Confrontation assays, as well as assays for volatile or diffusible organic compounds, resulted in the selection of three endophytes (KB1S1-4, KA2S1-42, and KB2S2-15) with a pronounced inhibitory activity against P. infestans. All three isolates produce volatile organic compounds that inhibit mycelial growth of P. infestans by up to 48.9%. The addition of 5% extracts obtained from KB2S2-15 or KA2S1-42 to P. infestans sporangia entirely suppressed their germination. A slightly lower inhibition (69%) was achieved using extract from KB1S1-4. Moreover, late blight symptoms and the mycelial growth of P. infestans were completely suppressed when leaflets were pre-treated with a 5% extract from these endophytes. This might suggest the implementation of such biocontrol candidates or their fungicidal compounds in late blight control strategies.
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