Isolation and characterization of Trichoderma asperellum for antagonistic activity against different soil-borne plant pathogens

Abstract

Rhizospheric soil samples were collected from Akola, Pune, Solapur, Amravati, Sangli and Nagpur and abbreviated as Tv1, Tv2, Tv3, Tv4, Tv5 and Tv6, respectively for the isolation of Trichoderma asperellum on Trichoderma Selective Medium (TSM) by serial dilution and pour plate technique. Morphological characteristic viz., radial growth and colony characters of these isolates were studied on PDA. The maximum radial growth (mm) was recorded in Tv1 and Tv4 i.e. 90.00 mm collected from Akola and Amravati districts from cotton and soybean crop, respectively whereas, minimum was 87.50 mm observed inTv3 of Solapur district from Jowar crop. The antagonistic efficacy of Trichoderma asperellum against the soil born plant pathogens viz., Fusarium solani, Sclerotium rolfsii and Rhizoctonia bataicola were tested. The maximum per cent inhibition (82.44%) and minimum radial growth (15.80 mm) of Fusarium solani was observed in isolate Tv5. In case of Sclerotium rolfsii the minimum radial growth (17mm) with maximum per cent inhibition (81.11%) was recorded in isolate Tv3 collected from Solapur district. Antagonism between Trichoderma asperellum and test pathogen Rhizoctonia bataticola showed maximum growth inhibition (80.33%) in Tv3 isolate.