Science Letters

Research article

Volatile and non-volatile antifungal compounds produced by Trichoderma harzianum SQR-T037 suppressed the growth of Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. niveum

Waseem Raza*1, Muhammad Faheem1, Sohail Yousaf3, Faheem Uddin Rajer1, Muhammad Yamin2

1 College of Resources and Environmental Sciences, Nanjing Agricultural University, 210095, Nanjing, China

2 Department of Applied Chemistry & Biochemistry, Government College University, Faisalabad, Pakistan

3 Department of Environmental Sciences, Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad, Pakistan

Abstract

Trichoderma is widely used in agricultural biotechnology and have been already used as biocontrol agents against numerous plant pathogens and quite a few have been developed for commercial use. We isolated a new strain of Trichoderma harzianum SQR-T037 and evaluated the antifungal potential of its volatile and non-volatile compounds against Fusarium oxysporum in vitro. The results demonstrated that strain SQR-T037 produced volatile compounds that can inhibit the growth of F. oxysporum up to 40%, while the non-volatile antifungal compounds extracted from the liquid culture significantly inhibited the growth of F. oxysporum. In the dual culture assay, the strain SQR-T037 overgrew the strain F. oxysporum. The incubation time of six days with a temperature of 30oC and pH of 6 were found optimum for the maximum production of antifungal compounds by strain SQR-T037. This research showed the great potential of strain SQR-T037 as an antagonist to control the Fusarium wilt of watermelon under greenhouse and field conditions.

Received June 15, 2013; Revised July 11, 2013; Accepted July 18, 2013

*Corresponding author: Dr. Waseem Raza; Email: waseem@njau.edu.cn; Phone: +86-15161459593; Fax: +86-2584432420