Antifungal Properties of Selected Seaweed and Seagrass Extracts against Macrophomina phaseolina Infecting Pigeon Pea

Abstract

A study was conducted to evaluate in vitro efficacy of seaweed (Sargassum myriocystum and Sargassum wightii) and seagrass (Cymodocea serrulata and Syringodium isoetifolium) extract against the mycelial growth of Macrophomina phaseolina at different concentrations of 5, 10, 15 and 20% along with control by poison food technique. The result revealed that, the extract of S. wightii (20%) exhibited the highest suppression of mycelial growth (10, 25 and 38 mm) at 24, 48 and 72 h after incubation. Among the antagonists tested against Macrophomina phaseolina, the fungal Trichoderma viride was found to be the most effective in reducing mycelial growth than the bacterial antagonist Pseudomonas fluorescens. Both the antagonistic fungi and bacteria have compatibility with seaweed and seagrass extracts in the concentrations.