Antagonistic potential of Trichoderma strains isolated from Musa paradisiaca cv. Malnad Rasbale grown farmyards against Foc race 4 pathogen

Abstract

Foc race 4 is a causative pathogen for Panama wilt disease of Musa Paradisiaca cv. Malnad Rasbale. The cost-effective measure to control rather than the usage of agrochemicals is still not available for this cultivar. Trichoderma strains act as an antagonistic agent against different phytopathogenic fungi including many pathogenic races of Panama wilt-causing pathogens. An attempt has been made to recognize the mode of action of this antagonistic agent in in vitro conditions and interaction between six Trichoderma strains. Foc race 4 was first investigated by dual plate culture method on PDA medium. This study revealed the potential of native strain KUVKU-TH02 for the biological control of Foc race 4 pathogen affecting Malnad Rasbale cultivar in in vivo conditions rather than native isolates KUVKU-TH01, KUVKU-TV01 and KUVKU-TV02. Observations revealed the lysis of hyphal ending in inhibited colonies of the fungal pathogen. Pure culture of isolated fungal strains incubated on potato dextrose broth made a path to isolate DNA for identification and molecular characterization studies. Upon DNA sequencing, native isolates sequences were deposited to NCBI genebank to gain accession IDs. The phylogenetic tree built showed the evolutionary relationship between the isolates and also the potency of native biocontrol isolates against procured isolates.