Binucleate Rhizoctonia Strain: A Potential Biocontrol Agent in Wheat Production

Abstract

As a polyphagous organism, Rhizoctonia is one of the most infectious soil-borne pathogens for many plant species. To reduce this threat to plants and hence provide good quality plant products for the end-user, it is crucial to develop sophisticated and environmental friendly plant protection methods. One such method is biological control using beneficial agents, e.g., microorganisms such as bacteria and fungi, but also mites or insects. To investigate the potential of this control, we present here a study involving AG B0 (BNR), which is a binucleate, non-pathogenic Rhizoctonia as a control against pathogens from the same genus, namely, Rhizoctonia cerealis (AG DI) and Rhizoctonia solani (AG5 and AG 1IC). This is novel because the relationship between plant-pathogen and plant-non-pathogen interactions has received only limited attention. Once the relative activities of the various plant defense mechanisms and the overall plant conditions were taken into account, the non-pathogenic binucleate strain was found to lower the impact of the pathogenic strain. We conclude that the response of plant genotype within the context of the protective activity of the non-pathogenic Rhizoctonia is race-specific. The research showed the ability to successfully protect wheat plants from R. cerealis negative impact, as well as in some cases from R. solani.