Fate of Spores of Trichoderma viride Pers. ex Fr. introduced into Soil

Abstract

IN the course of an ecological study of Trichoderma viride Pers. ex Fr., observations have been made on the survival and germination of its conidia and chlamydospores in soil. Comparatively few direct studies on the behaviour of fungal spores added to soil have been recorded. Dobbs and Hinson¹, Chinn² and others³ have demonstrated in short-term experiments that when the spores of most fungi tested, including Trichoderma, were placed in natural unamended soil they failed to germinate, although germination followed by early lysis of the germ tubes was noted in a restricted number of species. Park⁴ did not observe germination of conidia of Trichoderma or spores of five other species of fungi placed on the surface of natural soil and commented on the rapid digestion of the majority of them. On the other hand, Legge⁵ found that oospores of Phytophthora spp. survived burial in the soil for one year, and numerous workers have shown indirectly that pathogenic fungi may persist in soil for long periods.