Carnivorous fungi application for pesticide-free vegetable cultivation
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.31989/ffs.v4i9.1432Abstract
Background: Carnivorous fungi are commonly found inagricultural soils around the world, including RA. These fungi are trapping and eating microscopic nematode worms that reside in the soil and water. Phytopathogenic nematodes are harmful for agriculture, significantly decreasing the quality of vegetables and other crops. The classical pesticides are either ineffective or unsafe for human health and environment. Thus, an application of innovative biopreparations that address these safety and efficacy concerns are more preferable in terms of green agriculture and pesticide free food production.
Objectives: This ecological and genetical study of Armenian carnivorous fungi, includingthe isolation, identification and in vitro study of nematicide activity against the local nematode pests, can be prospective for obtaining pesticide-free vegetables.
Results: In this study, 50 strains of predatory fungi were isolated. According to the obtained data, local predatory fungi isolated from Armenian soils have demonstrated higher activity against both vinegar eel (Turbatrix aceti test object) and the local species of potato hookworm (Globodera rostochiensis) compared to the analogous trade preparations.
Conclusions: The collected data demonstrated that different species of carnivorous fungi are present in Armenian soil. Particularly, the studied Orbilia oligospora (Fresen.) Baral and E. Weber (syn. Arthrobotrys oligospora (Fresen.) and Orbilia brochopaga Drechsler species of fungi had shown high activity against the potato hookworm. The identified fungal strains have demonstrated more efficiency, than the fungi-based trade biopesticides. Probably it is related to the features of source of pathogen and fungi isolation, which defines the strain-specificity of nematicide enzymes of the observed fungi.
Keywords: nematophagous fungi, pesticide-free vegetables, nematode toxins, fungal nematicide enzymes, Orbilia oligospora, Orbilia brochopaga, potato hookworm
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2024 FFS/Functional Food Science
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
Authors retain the copyright of their articles and grant the Functional Food Center (FFC) and its journals the right of first publication under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
This license permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, including commercial use, provided the original author(s) and source are properly credited. Authors may post and share their published work freely, provided that the original publication in this journal is acknowledged.
By submitting to this journal, authors confirm that their manuscripts are original, not under consideration elsewhere, and that they hold the necessary rights to grant this license. The Functional Food Center encourages open scientific exchange and allows derivative and extended works, provided attribution to the original publication is maintained.