Stepwise screening of candidate antagonists for biological control of Blumeria graminis f. sp. tritici

Publication date: September 2019Source: Biological Control, Volume 136Author(s): Jürgen Köhl, Helen Goossen-van de Geijn, Lia Groenenboom-de Haas, Betty Henken, Rüdiger Hauschild, Ulrike Hilscher, Carin Lombaers-van der Plas, Trudy van den Bosch, Mariann WikströmAbstractAntagonists for the biological control of Blumeria graminis f. sp. tritici were selected using a stepwise screening approach. Fungal colonizers of powdery mildew pustules were isolated from leaves of cereals and other plant species. Spore production, cold tolerance, drought tolerance and UV-B resistance as important characteristics for application of biocontrol candidates in the phyllosphere were tested in in vitro assays and preliminary risk assessments were conducted. Amongst 850 tested isolates 58% belonged to various taxonomical groups of Cladosporium. Only 3% belonged to species that have been reported in literature as antagonistic to powdery mildews. The stepwise screening approach allowed to reduce the number of candidate antagonists using screening criteria that can be tested reliably and cost-effectively in in vitro assays and by data mining from initially 1237 isolates down to 143 candidate antagonists belonging to 42 taxonomical groups. The potential of these isolates to reduce conidia production of B. graminis f. sp. tritici. in wheat was assessed in bioassays on potted winter wheat plants under controlled conditions. A set of ten superior isolates was subsequently tested in a series of trials ...
Source: Biological Control - Category: Biology Source Type: research