Abstract
Cyanobacteria - phytopathogenic fungi - tomato plant interactions were evaluated for developing suitable biological options for combating biotic stress (Fusarium wilt) and enhancing plant vigour. Preliminary evaluation was undertaken on the fungicidal and hydrolytic enzyme activity of the cyanobacterial strains (Anabaena variabilis RPAN59, A. laxa RPAN8) under optimized environmental/nutritional conditions, followed by amendment in compost-vermiculite. Such formulations were tested against Fusarium wilt challenged tomato plants, and the Anabaena spp. (RPAN59/8) amended composts significantly reduced mortality in fungi challenged treatments, besides fungal load in soil. Cyanobacteria amended composts also led to an enhancement in soil organic C, nitrogen fixation, besides significant improvement in growth, yield, fruit quality parameters, N, P and Zn content. The tripartite interactions also enhanced the activity of defence and pathogenesis related enzymes in tomato plants. A positive correlation (r = 0.729 to 0.828) between P content and pathogenesis/defense enzyme activity revealed their role in enhancing the resistance of the plant through improved nutrient uptake. Light and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) revealed cyanobacterial colonization, which positively correlated with reduced fungal populations. The reduced disease severity coupled with improved plant growth/ yields, elicited by cyanobacterial treatments, illustrated the utility of such novel formulations in integrated pest and nutrient management strategies for Fusarium wilt challenged tomato crop.
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This study was supported by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR)-AMAAS Network Project on Microorganisms, New Delhi, India. We are grateful to the authorities of the Division of Microbiology, IARI, New Delhi, for providing facilities for this study. We also thank Dr. V.V. Ramamurthy and the project staff of the Network Project on Insect Biosystematics in the Division of Entomology, IARI, for assistance in the scanning electron microscopy analyses.
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Supplementary Fig. 1
(a) Experimental set up for evaluating the formulations in tomato crop (b) Effect of cyanobacteria untreated/treated seedlings on leaf morphology of tomato seedlings (JPEG 83 kb)
Supplementary Fig. 2
Effect of different treatments on growth of tomato plants (left-right) fungi challenged control treatment and RPAN50amended compost treated plants (JPEG 1967 kb)
Supplementary Fig. 3
Effect of different treatments on number of fruits per plant. The treatments include RPAN8C-T1; RPAN8O-T2; RPAN59C-T3; RPAN59O-T4; RPAN16C-T5; Bacillus subtilis-T6; Chemical (Thiram + Carbendazim)-T7; Trichoderma sp.-T8; Control-T9 (JPEG 100 kb)
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Prasanna, R., Chaudhary, V., Gupta, V. et al. Cyanobacteria mediated plant growth promotion and bioprotection against Fusarium wilt in tomato. Eur J Plant Pathol 136, 337–353 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10658-013-0167-x
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10658-013-0167-x