The Brown root rot pathogen Pyrrhoderma noxium (Corner) L.W. Zhou and Y.C. Dai is known to infect a large number of culturally and economically important plant species across the world. Although chemical control measures have been effective in managing this pathogen, their adverse effects on the ecosystem have limited their use. The use of biological control agents (BCAs) thus is generally accepted as an environmentally friendly way of managing various pathogens. Testing various consortia of the BCAs with different antagonistic mechanisms may even provide better disease protection than the use of a single BCA against aggressive plant pathogens such as the P. noxium. In the presented study, the wood decay experiment and the pot trial confirmed that the consortium of Trichoderma strains (#5029 and 5001) and streptomycetes (#USC-6914 and #USC-595-B) used was effective in protecting wood decay and plant disease caused by P. noxium. Among the treatments, complete elimination of the pathogen was observed when the BCAs were applied as a consortium. In addition, the BCAs used in this study promoted the plant growth. Therefore, Trichoderma and streptomycetes consortium could be used as a potential biocontrol measure to manage P. noxium infections in the field over the application of hazardous chemical control measures.
Keywords: Pyrrhoderma noxium; Trichoderma; actinomycetes; brown root rot pathogen; consortium of biological control agents; streptomycetes; wood decay.