Preliminary studies on biological control of the blackpoint complex of wheat in Argentina

Blackpoint is a brownish or black discoloration of wheat kernels and biological control is a complementary strategy to manage the disease. This work evaluated the effect of five strains of Trichoderma harzianum and one strain of T. koningii on the growth of Bipolaris sorokiniana and Alternaria alternata and compared the results of screening tests under controlled conditions and field evaluations on bread and durum wheat ears. Disease incidence, infection percentage and seedling emergence percentage determined in a greenhouse assay were evaluated. Dual cultures showed Trichoderma spp. inhibited significantly the mycelial growth of B. sorokiniana between 36 and 71% and of A. alternata between 41 and 61%. Microscopic examination of B. sorokiniana and A. alternata showed plasmolysis and vacuolization of hyphae of the pathogens in the presence of the antagonists tested. With pre-inoculation of wheat ears at anthesis under field conditions, disease incidence, infection percentage by blotter tests and seedling emergence in the greenhouse did not show significant differences between controls and treatments with Trichoderma spp. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.