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Identification and evaluation of Aspergillus tubingensis as a potential biocontrol agent against grey mould on tomato

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Abstract

Grey mould of tomato caused by Botrytis cinerea is a highly damaging disease worldwide. This study was aimed at identifying fungal strain QF05, which was isolated from the sandy soil collected in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau in China and to evaluate its biocontrol potential on grey mould and growth promotion effect on tomato plants. On the basis of morphological observation and a multigene phylogeny based on the ITS, β-tubulin and calmodulin genes, QF05 was identified as Aspergillus tubingensis. An in vitro dual culture test indicated obvious antagonistic activity by strain QF05 against B. cinerea. Strain QF05 distinctly reduced grey mould in assays on tomato fruits and plants. Treatments with the culture filtrate of strain QF05 and a tenfold dilution of the filtrate gave disease biocontrol efficacy of 34.5 and 31.0% on tomato plants, respectively. QF05 also promoted seed germination and plant growth of tomato. Length and total fresh and dry mass of tomato plants were all significantly increased by 17.8, 25.7 and 56.8%, respectively, after treatment with the tenfold dilution of the culture filtrate. QF05 also had positive biocontrol attributes such as indoleacetic acid and siderophore production, phosphate solubilization, and rhizosphere colonization. All these results indicated the good performance of A. tubingensis QF05 for the biocontrol of tomato grey mould and growth promotion of tomato plants.

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Acknowledgements

The work was supported by the Fund from the Beijing Excellent Talents Subsidized Project (no. 2015000020060G140), the Science and Technology Plan Project of Beijing (no. D151100003915003), and the Science and Technology Innovation Team of Beijing Academy of Agriculture and Forestry Sciences (JNKST201607).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Plant and Environment Protection, Beijing Academy of Agriculture and Forestry Sciences, No. 9 Shuguang Huayuan Mid Road, Haidian District, Beijing, 100097, People’s Republic of China

    Juan Zhao, Weicheng Liu, Dewen Liu, Caige Lu, Dianpeng Zhang, Huiling Wu & Dan Dong

  2. Department of Plant Pathology, China Agricultural University, No. 2 Yuanmingyuan West Road, Haidian District, Beijing, 100193, People’s Republic of China

    Lingling Meng

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  1. Juan Zhao
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Correspondence to Weicheng Liu.

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Zhao, J., Liu, W., Liu, D. et al. Identification and evaluation of Aspergillus tubingensis as a potential biocontrol agent against grey mould on tomato. J Gen Plant Pathol 84, 148–159 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10327-018-0764-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10327-018-0764-9

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