Characterization of Fusarium Spp. Inciting Vascular Wilt of Tomato and Its Management by a Chaetomium-Based Biocontrol Consortium

Abstract

Though the vascular wilt of tomato caused by the species of Fusarium is globally reported to be a complex disease in certain countries, for example, India, our studies indicated that the disease is caused by either Fusarium oxysporum f. spp. lycopersici (Fol) or Fusarium solani (FS) with the Fol being widely prevalent. In assessing the genetic diversity of 14 Fol strains representing the four Indian states by the unweighted pair group method with arithmetic averaging using Inter Simple Sequence Repeat (ISSR) amplicons, the strains distinguished themselves into two major clusters showing no correlation with their geographic origin. In pot experiments under polyhouse conditions, the seed dressing and soil application of a talc-based formulation of a biocontrol treatment, TEPF-Sungal-1 (Pseudomonas putida) + S17TH (Trichoderma harzianum) + CG-A (Chaetomium globosum), which inhibited Fol, was equally effective like the cell suspensions and was even better than the fungicidal mixture (copper oxychloride-0.25% + carbendazim-0.1%) in promoting the crop growth (52.3%) and reducing vascular wilt incidence (75%) over the control treatment, despite the challenge of inoculation with a highly pathogenic TOFU-IHBT strain. This was associated with significant expressions of the defense genes, indicating the induction of host resistance by a biocontrol consortium. In field experiments on two locations, the bioconsortium was highly effective in recording maximum mean fruit yields (54.5 and 60%) and a minimum mean vascular wilt incidence (37.5%) in comparison to the untreated control. Thus, Chaetomium-based bioconsortium demonstrated consistency in its performance across the two experiments in 2 years under the two field conditions.