Environmental factors affecting Trichoderma spp. and their biocontrol potential in post-harvest disease management
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.26832/24566632.2025.1002014Keywords:
Culture media, pH, Photoperiodicity, Salinity, TemperatureAbstract
Trichoderma species are filamentous fungi inhabiting soil environments and employed in agriculture due to their capacity to enhance plant growth, disease resistance, and tolerance to adverse environmental conditions. This research aimed to examine the influence of NaCl concentration, temperature, pH, and photoperiodicity on the growth of four Trichoderma species, and to evaluate the potential of Trichoderma spp. as a biological control agent against five post-harvest fungal pathogens under laboratory conditions. Mycelial growth of Trichoderma species exhibited a negative correlation with salinity. Maximum growth rates (4.35-4.59 cm) were observed at control salinity (0 µM). Potato Dextrose Agar media consistently supported significantly (p ≤ 0.05) higher mycelial growth (4.33-4.35 cm) than Malt Extract Agar, Carrot Agar, and Komada for all Trichoderma species. The optimal temperature for mycelial growth of Trichoderma spp. ranged from 25-30°C, with maximum growth rates of 4.12-4.40 cm. Temperatures below 20°C and above 35°C resulted in substantial growth reduction, demonstrating temperature's critical influence on mycelial development. Besides, the optimal pH for mycelial growth of Trichoderma spp. ranged from 5 to 7, with maximum growth rates of 4.12-4.43 cm. Mycelial growth of Trichoderma spp. was significantly enhanced under a 12-hour light/dark cycle (4.33-4.43 cm) compared to continuous light (2.24-2.79 cm) and continuous darkness (2.28-2.56 cm) conditions. Therefore, Trichoderma spp. treatments significantly inhibited the mycelial growth of five fungal pathogens compared to the control group, among them, T. koningii demonstrated the highest level of inhibition, ranging from 0.28 cm (B. cinerea) to 1.65 cm (A. niger).
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