J Katan
We investigated the effects of solarization and T. harzianum T39 soil treatments, alone or combined, on crop yield and disease suppression, especially when a plant growth medium was reused. Trichoderma was applied after solarization. Reusing the substrate growth medium ('old medium') reduced yield, but the above treatments counteracted the negative effects of the old medium. Trichoderma application, soil solarization or the combination of both treatments were frequently as effective as using a new medium, thus enabling reusing the growth media. Strawberry, cucumber and beans grown on treated old soil or growth substrate showed significant reduction in disease after leaf inoculation with Botrytis cinerea (grey mould) or with Sphaerotheca fuliginea (powdery mildew) on cucumber, hence indicating induced resistance. No significant changes in culturable microorganism populations, except for increased population levels of bacteria in rhizosphere of plants treated with the Trichoderma, were detected when using the method of dilution on selective agar media for microorganism enumeration. Attempts are being made to use a molecular technique based on 16S ribosomal DNA fingerprints. Denaturant gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) reveals different band patterns of rhizosphere populations of the different treatments.
J Katan
We investigated the effects of solarization and T. harzianum T39 soil treatments, alone or combined, on crop yield and disease suppression, especially when a plant growth medium was reused. Trichoderma was applied after solarization. Reusing the substrate growth medium ('old medium') reduced yield, but the above treatments counteracted the negative effects of the old medium. Trichoderma application, soil solarization or the combination of both treatments were frequently as effective as using a new medium, thus enabling reusing the growth media. Strawberry, cucumber and beans grown on treated old soil or growth substrate showed significant reduction in disease after leaf inoculation with Botrytis cinerea (grey mould) or with Sphaerotheca fuliginea (powdery mildew) on cucumber, hence indicating induced resistance. No significant changes in culturable microorganism populations, except for increased population levels of bacteria in rhizosphere of plants treated with the Trichoderma, were detected when using the method of dilution on selective agar media for microorganism enumeration. Attempts are being made to use a molecular technique based on 16S ribosomal DNA fingerprints. Denaturant gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) reveals different band patterns of rhizosphere populations of the different treatments.