Biocontrol of Diseases Caused by Phytophthora capsici and P. parasitica in Pepper Plants

Abstract

first_pagesettingsOrder Article Reprints Open AccessArticle Biocontrol of Diseases Caused by Phytophthora capsici and P. parasitica in Pepper Plants by Mila Santos 1,*ORCID,Fernando Diánez 1ORCID,Brenda Sánchez-Montesinos 2,Victoria Huertas 1,Alejandro Moreno-Gavira 1,Belén Esteban García 3,José A. Garrido-Cárdenas 3ORCID andFrancisco J. Gea 4ORCID 1 Departamento de Agronomía, Escuela Superior de Ingeniería, Universidad de Almería, 04120 Almería, Spain 2 Departamento de Agronomía, División Ciencias de la Vida, Campus Irapuato-Salamanca, Universidad de Guanajuato, Irapuato 36500, Guanajuato, Mexico 3 Departamento de Biología y Geología, Edificio CITE IIB, Universidad de Almería, 04120 Almería, Spain 4 Centro de Investigación, Experimentación y Servicios del Champiñón (CIES), Quintanar del Rey, 16220 Cuenca, Spain * Author to whom correspondence should be addressed. J. Fungi 2023, 9(3), 360; https://doi.org/10.3390/jof9030360 Received: 6 February 2023 / Revised: 10 March 2023 / Accepted: 11 March 2023 / Published: 15 March 2023 (This article belongs to the Special Issue Isolation and Control of Fruit and Vegetable Rot Fungi) Download Browse Figures Versions Notes Abstract The main objective of this study was to evaluate the ability of Trichoderma aggressivum f. europaeum, T. longibrachiatum, Paecilomyces variotii, and T. saturnisporum as biological control agents (BCAs) against diseases caused by P. capsici and P. parasitica in pepper. For this purpose, their antagonistic activities were evaluated both in vitro and in vivo. We analysed the expression patterns of five defence related genes, CaBGLU, CaRGA1, CaBPR1, CaPTI1, and CaSAR8.2, in leaves. All BCAs showed a high in vitro antagonistic activity, significantly reducing the mycelial growth of P. capsici and P. parasitica. The treatments with T. aggressivum f. europaeum, T. longibrachiatum, and P. variotii substantially reduced the severity of the disease caused by P. capsici by 54, 76, and 70%, respectively, and of the disease caused by P. parasitica by 66, 55, and 64%, respectively. T. saturnisporum had the lowest values of disease reduction. Reinoculation with the four BCAs increased the control of both plant pathogens. Markedly different expression patterns were observed in the genes CaBGLU, CaRGA1, and CaSAR8.2. Based on the results, all four BCAs under study could be used as a biological alternative to chemicals for the control of P. capsici and P. parasitica in pepper with a high success rate.