Work

The Plant Growth-promoting Fungus Penicillium spp. GP15-1 Enhances Growth and Confers Protection against Damping-off and Anthracnose in the Cucumber

Year: 2014

Type: article

Abstract: Plant growth-promoting fungi (PGPF) have the potential to confer several benefits to plants in terms of growth and protection against pests and pathogens. In the present study, we tested whether a PGPF isolate, Penicillium spp. GP15-1 (derived from zoysiagrass rhizospheres), stimulates growth and disease resistance in the cucumber plant. The use of the barley grain inoculum GP15-1 significantly enhanced root and shoot growth and biomass of cucumber plants. A root colonization study revealed that GP15-1 was a very rapid and efficient root colonizer and was isolated in significantly higher frequencies from the upper root parts than from the middle and lower root parts during the first 14 d of seedling growth. Inoculating the cucumber seedlings with GP15-1 significantly reduced the damping-off disease caused by Rhizoctonia solani, and the disease suppression effects of GP15-1 were considerably influenced by the inoculum potential of both GP15-1 and the pathogen. Treatment with the barley grain inoculum or a cell-free filtrate of GP15-1 increased systemic resistance against leaf infection by the anthracnose pathogen Colletotrichum orbiculare, resulting in a significant decrease in lesion number and size. Molecular and phylogenetic analyses of internal transcribed spacer sequences of the genomic DNA of GP15-1 revealed that the fungal isolate is a strain of either Penicillium neoechinulatum or Penicillium viridicatum.

Source: Journal of Oleo Science

DOI: 10.5650/jos.ess13143

Authors: Md. Motaher Hossain, Farjana Sultana, Mitsuo Miyazawa, Mitsuro Hyakumachi

Institutions: Gazipur Agricultural University, Gifu University, International University of Business Agriculture and Technology, Kindai University

Language: English

Topic: Plant-Microbe Interactions and Immunity

Subfield: Plant Science

Field: Agricultural and Biological Sciences

Domain: Life Sciences

SDG: Zero hunger

Open Access status: gold

Estimated APC paid: $301