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Studies on fungi in the root region

V. The antibiotic effects of root extracts of allium on some root surface fungi

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Summary

Aqueous extracts of adventitious roots ofAllium sativum L. (garlic), seedling roots ofAllium porrum L. (leek), and both adventitious and seedling roots ofAllium cepa L. (onion), were tested for antibiotic activity against three “root-surface fungi”,Cylindrocarpon radicicola Wollenw.,Gliocladium roseum (Link) Thom andFusarium culmorum (W. G. Smith) Sacc. by means of two different techniques.

With a filter-paper disc technique, root extracts sterilised by membrane-filtration produced zones of inhibition of the test fungi, whereas root extracts sterilised by autoclaving showed no activity. Garlic root extract produced inhibition zones with all the test fungi, whereas extracts of onion adventitious roots and leek seedling roots produced inhibition zones with only one of the test fungi. The extract of onion seedling roots produced no inhibition zones. Root extracts of all theAllium species, when sterilised by membrane filtration, generally inhibited spore-germination of all the test fungi.

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  1. J. H. Clarke

    Present address: Pest Infestation Laboratory, Agricultural Research Council, Slough, Buckinghamshire, England

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Botany Department, University of Liverpool, England

    J. H. Clarke

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Clarke, J.H. Studies on fungi in the root region. Plant Soil 25, 32–40 (1966). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01347959

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01347959

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