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Suppressive biomasses and antagonist bacteria for an eco-compatible control of Verticillium dahliae on nursery-grown olive plants

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Abstract

Two organic amendments (OMW-M1 and OMW-M2), based on olive mill wastes (OMWs) subjected to advanced processes of aerobic static storage or composting, were tested for their suppressive activity against Verticillium dahliae, the causal agent of olive Verticillium wilt. OMW-M1 and OMW-M2 drastically inhibited the pathogen growth in vitro and then were further tested in suppressive pot experiments. The amendments, mixed at 15 % (v/v) with a nursery standard plant-growth matrix, were tested alone or in combination with two biocontrol bacteria (Bacillus amyloliquefaciens and Burkholderia cepacia) selected from suppressive soils. All mixtures were artificially contaminated with V. dahliae microsclerotia (MS), the density of which was periodically monitored by either a semi-selective medium or a specific real-time Polymerase Chain Reaction technique. In plant-less pot assays conducted in a growth chamber, OMW-M1 was the most effective amendment, reducing V. dahliae MS density by 100 % after 90 days with respect to the untreated control. In nursery experiments with pot-growing olive plants, OMW-M1, particularly when combined with the biocontrol bacteria, confirmed its strong suppressive activity reducing up to 100 % the density of V. dahliae MS in the rhizosphere behaving even better than a commercial biofungicide (Trichoderma asperellum TV1) used as a control. The best combined treatment also reduced plant mortality and increased root and shoot extension. It is concluded that organic amendments from stabilized olive mill by-products showed positive agronomic and phytosanitary properties on pot-growing olive plants and, particularly when enriched with biocontrol agents, they are potentially suitable for use in sustainable agriculture.

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Acknowledgments

The research was supported by (a) the Italian “Ministero dell’Istruzione, dell’Università e della Ricerca”, PRIN project, prot. 20089LSZ2A_003, “Studies on biocontrol agents and their biomolecules to optimize the suppressive activity of natural amendments against soilborne pathogens of horticultural crops”, (b) the Italian “Ministero delle Risorse Agricole e Forestali”, OLVIVA project “Qualificazione del vivaismo olivicolo: caratterizzazione varietale, sanitaria e innovazioni nella tecnica vivaistica” (L499/99 Programmi Interregionali), and (c) the European Union project “LIFE Environment TIRSAV PLUS: LIFE05 ENV/IT/000845”. The authors are grateful to the Parco Scientifico “STAR” of Verona, and SETA SrL, Vigonza, Italy, for producing and supplying the composted substrate OMW-M2, and to the staff of the plant nursery “Verde Molise” Termoli, Italy, for technical assistance and equipment involved in the development of the suppressive experiments on olive plants. The authors also thank Janice Beccaria, from the Faculty of Foreign Languages and Literature at the University of Salento, Lecce, Italy for her valuable assistance in the linguistic revision of the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Agricultural, Environmental and Food Sciences, University of Molise, Campobasso, Italy

    D. Vitullo, V. De Cicco & G. Lima

  2. Institute for Agriculture and Forest Systems in the Mediterranean, National Research Council, Perugia, Italy

    R. Altieri & A. Esposito

  3. Department of Soil, Plant, and Food Sciences, University of Bari “Aldo Moro”, Bari, Italy

    F. Nigro & M. Ferrara

  4. Department of Bioscience and Territory, University of Molise, Pesche, IS, Italy

    G. Alfano & G. Ranalli

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  1. D. Vitullo
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Correspondence to G. Lima.

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Vitullo, D., Altieri, R., Esposito, A. et al. Suppressive biomasses and antagonist bacteria for an eco-compatible control of Verticillium dahliae on nursery-grown olive plants. Int. J. Environ. Sci. Technol. 10, 209–220 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13762-012-0145-4

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