Efficacy of Hypovirulent Binucleate Rhizoctonia sp. to Control Banded Leaf and Sheath Blight in Corn

Water agar, artificially infested soil and leaf sheath inoculation methods were used to assess the suitable time of application, varietal host response and persistence of Rhv7, a hypovirulent, binucleate Rhizoctonia collected from soil in the Philippines, to effectively control virulent Rhizoctonia solani AG1-IA isolate RS35 on corn. With the water agar method, prior inoculation (2 to 3 days) with the biocontrol agent is essential to achieve maximum control of the pathogen. Disease protection was increased from 23 to 70% as the pre-incubation time of Rhv7 prior to the challenge inoculation with virulent isolate was lengthened from 0 to 3 days. Disease severity and incidence of banded leaf and sheath blight (BLSB) on the three corn hybrids were also suppressed in artificially infested soil. In leaf sheath inoculation, the suppressive ability of Rhv7 against BLSB on corn persisted during lesion expansion. This suppression was expressed as slower disease progress in plants with Rhv7 than in plants without Rhv7. Early and timely brace root formation that detached infected sheaths, also aided in reducing the number of diseased plants in Rhv7-treated plots at the final observation. Mycelial growth activity of RS35 was reduced when corn plants were pre-inoculated with Rhv7 before challenge even if there was no contact detected between Rhv7 and RS35, which suggests that Rhv7 protects corn against BLSB by induced resistance. The hypovirulent, binucleate Rhizoctonia Rhv7 strain effectively controlled R. solani AG1-IA isolate RS-35 in corn.