Biological control of rice foot rot disease using some antagonistic fungi

Rice foot rot disease caused by Fusarium fujikuroi, is one of the most important rice diseases in the world and in Iran. Integrated management with different methods is very important for the disease. In this research, to find appropriate fungal antagonistic isolates for the biological control of foot rot, the effect of four isolates of Trichoderma spp. and three isolates of Aspergillus spp. were studied on F. fujikuroi in vitro using dual culture, slide culture, volatile metabolites and non–volatile metabolites. The results of research showed that T. harzianum isolate with 81.81% was the most effective isolate in suppressing the mycelium growth of F. fujikuroi. In the volatile metabolites method, T. harzianum and T. virens isolates were the most effective with 73.33% in suppressing the mycelium growth of the pathogen. In the non–volatile metabolites method, A. awamori, T. viride and T. koningi isolates showed the highest percentage of F. fujikuroi inhibition. In the slide culture method, all isolates of Trichoderma spp. and Aspergillus spp. proved to be effective in inhibition of the mycelia of F. fujikuroi. These fungal isolates were inoculated on the rice plant under greenhouse conditions. All inoculated fungi were able to reduce the severity of the disease in the treated plants. The isolates of T. harzianum and T. virens were the most effective fungi in reducing the disease by reducing the severity by 83% and 79%, respectively. Also, application of all the studied fungi in the greenhouse increased the height, fresh weight and dry weight of shoots and roots in the presence of pathogen compared to the control plants (without pathogen). Analysis of variance and comparison of the mean of the treatments showed a significant difference between the fungi except in the dry weight trait. According to the results obtained from biocontrol studies in laboratory and greenhouse, T. harzianum, T. virens and T. viride isolates were the most effective antagonists in controlling rice foot rot disease.