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Trichoderma asperellum: A Dominant Endophyte Species in Cacao Grown in Sulawesi with Potential for Controlling Vascular Streak Dieback Disease

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Abstract

Endophytic strains of Trichoderma species can be used as an alternative to chemicals to control vascular streak dieback (VSD) disease of cacao. Of 21 Trichoderma isolated from Theobroma cacao (cacao) in Indonesia, 19 were identified as Trichoderma asperellum. Four isolates of this species (ART-4, ART-5, ART-6 and ART-8) were reintroduced into young cocoa seedlings by root inoculation and after 4 weeks all were recovered from roots and stems, while ART-4 and ART-5 were recovered from leaves as well. Spraying seedlings pre-inoculated with T. asperellum ART-4, ART-5 and ART-6 with mycelium of the VSD pathogen Ceratobasidium theobromae resulted in no apparent VSD symptoms on the leaves. Those seedlings pre-inoculated with ART-8 showed 8.9 % incidence of VSD symptoms on the leaves when compared to a 20.4 % incidence of VSD on positive control leaves, 12 weeks after inoculation. The same isolates were also reintroduced into 3-month-old cocoa seedlings via the connecting site following shoot grafting, and after 12 weeks all isolates were recovered from stem and leaves. Seedlings grafted with buds infected by VSD and treated by ART-4 showed no VSD symptoms on their leaves 12 weeks after grafting and inoculation. However, those treated with ART-5, ART-6 and ART-8 showed 33.3 %, 50.0 % and 56.0 % incidence of VSD symptoms on their leaves, respectively, compared to an 88.9 % incidence of VSD on positive control leaves. Therefore, the study results demonstrates for the first time the potential of T. asperellum isolates to control VSD disease on cacao.

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Acknowledgments

The authors are grateful to the Indonesian Agency for Agricultural Research and Development, Ministry of Agriculture and Directorate General of Higher Education, Ministry of Education and Culture who have supported this research through KKP3T and PAR-C research grants, respectively. Also, we would like to thank the University of Maryland and the United States Department of Agriculture, Beltsville, MD, USA, for giving permission to complete the research in their laboratories.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Cocoa Research Group, Faculty of Agriculture, Hasanuddin University, Makassar, 90245, Indonesia

    Ade Rosmana, Eli Surya Ibrahim, Yustina Herawati & Asman Asman

  2. United States Department of Agriculture, ARS, Systematic Mycology and Microbiology Lab., Beltsville, MD, 20705, USA

    Gary J. Samuels & Adnan Ismaiel

  3. Department of Plant Sciences and Landscape Architecture, University of Maryland, Maryland, MD, 20705, USA

    Priscila Chaverri

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  1. Ade Rosmana
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  2. Gary J. Samuels
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  3. Adnan Ismaiel
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  4. Eli Surya Ibrahim
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  5. Priscila Chaverri
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  6. Yustina Herawati
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  7. Asman Asman
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Correspondence to Ade Rosmana.

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Section Editor: Wagner Bettiol

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Rosmana, A., Samuels, G.J., Ismaiel, A. et al. Trichoderma asperellum: A Dominant Endophyte Species in Cacao Grown in Sulawesi with Potential for Controlling Vascular Streak Dieback Disease. Trop. plant pathol. 40, 19–25 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40858-015-0004-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40858-015-0004-1

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