Biocontrol of certain soilborne diseases and promotion of growth of Capsicum annuum using biofungicides

Abstract

Colored pepper (Capsicum annuum L.) has great economic importance as a food vegetable crop in Egypt and all over the world. This crop is prone to infection with soilborne fungal pathogens such as Rhizoctonia solani, Fusarium solani and Macrophomina phaseolina. These mycopathogens were isolated from diseased pepper seedlings, identified; their virulence was confirmed in the greenhouse. Eight bacterial isolates mainly; (Bacillus subtilis and Pseudomonas fluorescens), and many fungal isolates mainly, (Trichoderma harzianum and T. viride), were isolated from the rhizosphere soil of pepper. They caused appreciable In vitro inhibition of the radial growth of the 3 pathogens in dual culture technique, in percentages ranging from (71-79%) and (80-87%), respectively. On infestation of pepper soil with these bioagents and the 3 pathogens separately in the greenhouse, they caused In vivo reduction of disease symptoms of pepper compared with the pathogens infested and non-infested control soils. In addition, they caused significant improvement of pepper growth compared with the control soil, however, promotion exerted by B. subtilis and T. harzianum was more than that of P. fluorescens and T. viride. These promoting activities could be attributed to the production of metabolites such as growth hormones; solubilization of phosphates and improvement of nutrient uptake. This is the first record of promoting the growth of pepper in greenhouse by B. subtilis and T. harzianum in Egypt. Thus these bioagents could be formulated then applied in the future in pepper fields of this country as safe, effective, ecofriendly biofungicides to control soilborne pathogens and also could be used as biofertilizers to promote the growth and productivity of this crop.