Effects of Streptomyces corchorusii, Streptomyces mutabilis, pendimethalin, and metribuzin on the control of bacterial and Fusarium wilt of tomato

Abstract

Two Streptomyces spp. and two herbicides were used to control the pathogens of tomato wilt disease in vitro and in vivo. In vitro studies showed inhibitory effects of Streptomyces corchorusii against Fusarium oxysporum f.sp. lycopersici (Sacc.) and inhibitory effects of Streptomyces mutabilis against Pseudomonas solanacearum. In cultures amended with pendimethalin or metribuzin, the growths of P. solanacearum and F. oxysporum were inhibited. The degree of growth inhibition was proportional to the herbicide concentration, with pendimethalin being more effective than metribuzin, and maximum inhibition was at 2.0 × 10−3 M. The growth of S. corchorusii and S. mutabilis was slightly inhibited or enhanced by the herbicides. Supplementation of the herbicides to culture media of the antagonistic Streptomyces spp. increased their inhibitory effects against P. solanacearum and F. oxysporum that were proportional to the herbicide concentrations. Soaking seeds of tomato in the herbicides prior to sowing in sterilized and raw soils and applying S. corchorusii and (or) S. mutabilis to the soils artificially infested with P. solanacearum and (or) F. oxysporum f.sp. lycopersici (Sacc.) 40 days after transplanting revealed significant interactions that gave better control of wilt than either applied alone. The combination of antagonistic Streptomyces spp. was more effective with pendimethalin than with metribuzin and in nonsterilized soil than in sterilized soil. The combination of pendimethalin with S. corchorusii, S. mutabilis, or S. corchorusii plus S. mutabilis was more effective than the single treatment with microbial antagonists or the herbicide against F. oxysporum, P. solanacearum, and Pseudomonas plus Fusarium, respectively. In both soils, the combination of microbial antagonists with pendimethalin was most effective at 2.0 × 10−3 M, disease incidence being reduced to zero and the percent colonization of either pathogen being the lowest. The results also revealed that these combinations minimized the negative effects of the pathogens on tomato growth. This work demonstrates that two compatible control agents, biological and chemical, can be combined to give additional control of a plant pathogen. Keywords: Streptomyces spp., herbicides, Pseudomonas solanacearum, Fusarium oxysporum f.sp. lycopersici (Sacc.), wilt, Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.