Worm Power Against Fungal Diseases in Aroids: Prospects and Future Strategies

Authors

  • SS Veena Principal Scientist Division of Crop Protection Central Tuber Crops Research Institute Sreekariyam Thiruvananthapuram - 695017, Kerala
  • Jeeva ML Principal Scientist Division of Crop Protection Central Tuber Crops Research Institute Sreekariyam Thiruvananthapuram - 695017, Kerala
  • Rajeswari LS Division of Crop Protection Central Tuber Crops Research Institute Sreekariyam Thiruvananthapuram - 695017, Kerala
  • Sabna A Division of Crop Protection Central Tuber Crops Research Institute Sreekariyam Thiruvananthapuram - 695017, Kerala
  • Pravi Vidhyadaran Division of Crop Protection Central Tuber Crops Research Institute Sreekariyam Thiruvananthapuram - 695017, Kerala
  • Nedunchezhiyan M Principal Scientist Regional Centre of Central Tuber Crops Research Institute Dumduma HBC Bhubaneswar - 751019, Odisha
  • Sreekumar J Central Tuber Crops Research Institute Sreekariyam Thiruvananthapuram - 695017, Kerala
  • James George Project Coordinator - AICRPTC Central Tuber Crops Research Institute Sreekariyam Thiruvananthapuram - 695017, Kerala

Keywords:

Key words, aroids, vermicompost, Phytophthora colocasiae, Sclerotium rolfsii, Trichoderma, Bacillus

Abstract

Organic growers have limited options for plant disease control since most of the effective fungicides  are synthetic, toxic and potentially polluting. Vermicompost and vermiwash have been widely explored  as eco-friendly options for controlling plant diseases. We explored the possibility of utilizing vermicompost  to manage Phytophthora colocasiae and Sclerotium rolfsii that cause taro leaf blight and collar rot of  elephant foot yam, respectively. Microbial diversity was assessed in terms of quality and quantity in  35 vermicompost samples collected from different parts of the country. The distinct isolates were  screened against the target pathogens under in vitro conditions. Potent organisms were identified byITS and rRNA sequencing. Induced systemic resistance (ISR) was quantified in terms of phenol content,  chitinase and glucanase activities. The variability in disease suppression by various vermicompost  samples was studied under in vitro conditions. Pot culture studies were conducted in taro and elephant  foot yam for two years to assess the potential of vermicompost/vermiwash for disease suppression. A  total of 309 culture dependant isolates of vermicompost origin were obtained and 18.9% and 36.4%  of these organisms showed >50% inhibition against S. rolfsii and P. colocasiae, respectively. The  disease suppression potential varied with the source of vermicompost. Vermicompost/ vermiwash treated  plants showed <10% TLB incidence and 0-50% collar rot incidence. Yield increase of 14.70 % was  also noted in both crops. There is scope for utilizing vermicompost for eco-friendly management of  taro leaf blight and collar rot of elephant foot yam.  

Author Biography

SS Veena, Principal Scientist Division of Crop Protection Central Tuber Crops Research Institute Sreekariyam Thiruvananthapuram - 695017, Kerala

Principal ScientistDivision of Crop Protection

References

References

Ajay Kumar Mishra, Kamal Sharma and Raj Shekhar Misra 2010. Isozyme and PCR-based genotyping of epidemic Phytophthora colocasiae associated with taro leaf blight. Arch Phytopathol Plant Prot., 43(14): 1.14.

Al- Mughrabi, K.I. 2006. Antibiosis ability of aerobic compost tea against foliar and tuber potato diseases. Biotechnol., 5(1): 69-74.

Al-Dahmani J.H., Abassi P.A., Miller S.A., Hoitink H.A.J. 2003. Suppression of bacterial spot of tomato with foliar sprays of compost extracts under greenhouse and field conditions. Plant Disease, 87: 913-919.

Alfano, G., Lustrate, G., Lima, G., Vitullo, D and Rnalli, G. 2011. Characterization of composted olive mil wastes to predict potential plant disease suppressiveness. Biol. Control, 58: 199.207.

Chowdappa, P., Mohankumar, S. P., Jyothilakshmi, M. and Upreti, K. K. 2013. Growth stimulation and induction of systemic resistance in tomato against early and late blight by Bacillus subtilis OTPB1or Trichoderma harzianum OTPB. Biological Control, 65: 109-117.

Clive A. Edwards and Fletcher, K.E. (1998). The potential of earthworm compost as plant growth media. In: Earthworm in waste and environmental management. Clive A. Edwards and Neuhauser (Eds.), SPB Academic Press, Netherlands. pp 21-32.

Clive A. Edwards, Jorge Dominguez and Norman Q Arancon. 2004. The influence of vermicomposts on plant growth and pest incidence. In; Soil Zoology for sustainable development in the 21 st century. Shakir Hanna, S.H. and Mikhail , W.Z.A. (Eds.), El Cairo, pp. 397- 420.

Danon, M., Zmora-Nahum, S., Chen, Y. and Hadar, Y. 2007. Prolonged compost curing reduces suppression of Sclerotium rolfsii. Soil Biology and Biochemistry, 39:1936.1946.

Johann G. Zaller. 2006. Foliar spraying of vermicompost extracts: effects on fruit quality and indications of late blight suppression of self grown tomatoes. Biological Agriculture and Horticulture, 24: 165-180.

Josefa Blaya, Rubén López-Mondéjar, Eva Lloret, Jose Antonio Pascual, Margarita Ros 2013.Changes induced by Trichoderma harzianum in suppressive compost controlling Fusarium wilt. Pesticide Biochemistry and Physiology, 107: 112.119.

Joshi, D., Hooda, K.S. , Bhatt, J.C. , Mina, B.L.and Gupta, H.S. (2009). Suppressive effects of composts on soil-borne and foliar diseases of French bean in the field in the western Indian Himalayas. Crop Protection, 28:608-615.

Mbarga, J.B. Martijn Ten Hoopen, G., Kuaté , J., Adiobo , A., Ngonkeu Z. Ambang , M.E.L., Akoa , A., Tondje, P.R. and Begoude, B.A.D. 2012. Trichoderma asperellum: A potential biocontrol agent for Pythium myriotylum, causal agent of cocoyam (Xanthosoma sagittifolium) root rot disease in Cameroon. Crop Protection, 36: 18- 22.

Nath, V. S., Sankar, M. S., Hegde, V. M., Jeeva, M. L., Misra, R. S. and Veena, S. S. 2012. Analysis of genetic diversity in Phytophthora colocasiae using RAPD markers. The Asian and Australasian J Plant Sci Biotechnol., 6(1): 38.43.

Nath, V. S., Sankar, M. S., Hegde, V. M., Jeeva, M .L., Misra, R. S., Veena, S.S., Raj, M. 2013. Molecular evidence supports hyper variability in Phytophthora colocasiae associated with leaf blight of taro. European Journal of Plant Pathology, DOI: 10.1007/s10658-013-0181-z

Nektarios Kavroulakis, Constantinos Ehaliotis, Spyridon Ntougias, Georgios I. Zervakis, Kalliope K. Papadopoulou.2005. Local and systemic resistance against fungal pathogens of tomato plants elicited by compost derived from agricultural residues Physiological and Molecular Plant Pathology, 66:163-174.

Pascual, J.A., García, C., Hernández, T., Lerma, S and Lynch, J.M.2002. Effectiveness of municipal waste composts and its humic fraction in suppressing Pythium ultimun, Microb. Ecol., 44: 59.68.

Pharand, B., Craisse, O. and Benhamou, N.2002. Cytological aspects of compost- mediated induced resistance against Fusarium crown and root rot in tomato. Phytopathology, 92:424-438.

Philip S. Wharton, William W Kirk, Robert L Schafer and Pavani Tumbalam. 2012. Evaluation of biological seed treatments in combination with management practices for the control of seed borne blight in potato. Biological Control, 63: 326-332.

Rabia Ashraf, Faiza Shahid and Tasneem Adam Ali. 2007. Association of fungi, bacteria and actinomycetes with different composts. Pak. J. bot, 39 (6): 2141-2151.

Raj Shekhar Misra and Nedunchezhiyan, M. 2008. Amorphophallus diseases and their integrated management. In: National seminar on amorphophallus: Innovative technologies July 19-20, R.A.U, Patna, Bihar pp 163-166.

Raj Shekhar Misra, Kamal Sharma and Ajay Kumar Mishra. 2010. Phytophthora leaf blight of taro (Colocasia esculenta)- A review. The Asian and Australasian Journal of Plant science and Biotechnology, 2(2):55-63.

Rattikarn Sennoi , Nattawut Singkham ,, Sanun Jogloy , Sophon Boonlue ,Weerasak Saksirirat , Thawan Kesmala and Aran Patanothai. 2013. Biological control of southern stem rot caused by Sclerotium rolfsii using Trichoderma harzianum and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi on Jerusalem artichoke (Helianthus tuberosus L.). Crop Protection, 54: 148-153.

Raupach, G.S. and Kloepper, J.W. 1998. Mixture of plant growth promoting rhizobacteria enhances biological control of multiple cucumber pathogens. Phytopathology, 88: 1158-1164.

Ros, M., Hernández, M.T., García, C., Bernal, A and Pascual, J.A. 2005. Biopesticide effect of green compost against fusarium wilt on melon plants, J. Appl. Microbiol., 98: 845.854.

Sergio de los Santos-Villalobos, Doralinda A. Guzmán-Ortiz, Miguel A. Gómez-Lim, John P. Délano-Frier, Stefan de-Folter, Prometeo Sánchez-García and Juan J. Peña-Cabriales. 2013. Potential use of Trichoderma asperellum T8a as a biological control agent against anthracnose in mango (Mangifera indica L.). Biological Control, 64(1):37-44.

Watanabe, S., Kato, H., Kumakura, K., Ishibashi, E. and Nagayama, K. 2006.Properties and biological control activities of aerial and submerged spores in Trichoderma asperellum SKT-1. J Pestic Sci., 31: 375.379.

Wijesinghe, C.J., Wilson Wijeratnam, R.S., Samarasekara, J.K.R.R. and Wijesundera, R.L.C. 2011. Development of a formulation of Trichoderma asperellum to control black rot disease on pineapple caused by Thielaviopsis paradoxa. Crop Protection, 30 (3): 300-306.

Wouters, I.M., Spaan, S., Douwes, J., Doekes, G. and Heederik, D. 2005. Overview of personal occupational exposure levels to inhale dust, endotoxin, β (1-3) - glucan and fungal extracellular polysaccharides in the waste management chain. Ann.Occup.Hyg., 47: 1-15.

Downloads

Published

2015-01-01

How to Cite

Veena, S., ML, J., LS, R., A, S., Vidhyadaran, P., M, N., J, S., & George, J. (2015). Worm Power Against Fungal Diseases in Aroids: Prospects and Future Strategies. JOURNAL OF ROOT CROPS, 39(2), 136–147. Retrieved from https://journal.isrc.in/index.php/jrc/article/view/95

Issue

Section

Research Articles

Most read articles by the same author(s)

<< <