Veerabhadraswamy Al

Evaluation of four trichoderma spp. for the biological control of black bundle disease (cephalosporium acremonium) in maize

• Authors Details :  
• Veerabhadraswamy A L And Rajkumar H Garampalli

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Four Trichoderma species with known biocontrol activity (T. harzianum, T. hamantum, T. viride and T. virens) were tested for their efficacy against Cephalosporium acremonium, a causal organism of Black bundle disease in maize. Interactions between the fungi were assessed in vitro to study mutual antagonisms. Among the four bio-agents, T. hamantum proved to be promising which showed maximum inhibition (51.3%) followed by T. virens (45.2%), T. harzianum (44.6%) and T. viride (20.3%). T. hamantum was also found to be hyperparasite on C. acremonium whereas, T. harzianum and T. viride showed mycelial deformation. The volatile toxicants released by all the Trichoderma spp. were inferior in inhibiting the growth of C. acremonium when compared to the control as evident by inverted plate technique. The results of in vivo experiments confirmed the results from the in vitro study and showed that all the four bio-agents significantly reduced the disease incidence of Black bundle disease.

Article Subject Details

• Biological Sciences

Article Keywords Details

• Biocontrol and Bio-agents.
• Cephalosporium acremonium
• Maize
• Trichoderma spp.
• Black bundle disease

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