Summary
Griseofulvin, streptomycin, aureomycin, and actidione, with and without nutrients, were tested againstPythium ultimum Trow (two strains),P. irregulare Buis., andP. rostratum Butler. Streptomycin was tolerated in the highest concentration, and actidione and aureomycin in the lowest.P. rostratum, a saprophytic species, was more resistant to the antibiotics than the pathogenic species, which were inhibited at low concentrations. The two strains ofP. ultimum behaved differently, the oogonial strain being more tolerant than the sporangial strain. Yeast extract was usually superior to sucrose or asparagine in counteracting the toxicity of antibiotics.
Germination of sporangia ofPythium irregulare was studiedin vitro and in a natural soil in the presence of antibiotic and antibiotic-nutrient solutions. Very meager germination of sporangia occurred in soil amended with antibiotics. Actidione severely restricted germination in soil. Nutrients nullified the toxicity to varying degrees. Usually higher germination of sporangia occurredin vitro than in soil. Sub-lethal concentrations of antibiotics induced morphological abnormalities in germ tubes. Aureomycin caused a dendroid type of branching; actidione caused distortion, vacuolation, and vesiculation; griseofulvin caused lysis and septation; and streptomycin caused distortion.
Germ tubes were lysed in a natural soil and in soils amended with antibiotics, but nutrients, in general, prevented early lysis at low concentrations of antibiotics. No resistant bodies were formed prior to the initiation of lysis of germ tubes.
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Vaartaja, O., Agnihotri, V.P. Interaction of nutrients and four antifungal antibiotics in their effects on Pythium species in vitro and in soil. Plant Soil 30, 49–61 (1969). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01885260
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01885260