Phytophthora megakarya is the causal agent of seedling blight and black pod rot
disease of Theobroma cacao leading to loss of economic value in plants. This work was carried out
to study the effect of antagonistic fungi endophyte against P. megakarya in vitro. Five fungi
endophytes (Pestalotia, Penicillum, Fusarium, Acremonium and Cladosporium) were isolated
and screened in vitro for their antagonistic effect on P. megakarya. A 4mm mycelia plug of P.
megakarya and the fungal endophytes were placed 4cm apart in Petri dishes containing potato
dextrose agar acidified with 10% lactic acid and incubated for 8 days. Evaluation of interaction
began from 60 hrs of incubation. Results showed that three endophytic fungi Pestalotia spp,
Penicillum spp and Fusarium spp showed significant antagonistic effect on P. megakarya in vitro.
Pestalotia spp showed the highest antagonism (0.52) while C. carpophillum showed no antagonistic
effect (1.54). However, it was observed that Acremonium spp showed moderate antagonism. Therefore
information obtained from this study can provide useful criteria for identifying and selecting fungi
endophytes for field studies.
PAPER TITLE :DEPARTMENT OF BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES, TAI SOLARIN UNIVERSITY OF EDUCATION, IJEBU-ODE, OGUN STATE, NIGER
JOURNAL Of SUSTAINABLE TECHNOLOGY | VOLUME 5 NUMBER 2 2014
Paper Details
- Author(s) : ADE-OGUNNOWO, F.; ADEJOYE, O.D. and ODEJAYI, O.S.
- Abstract:
