Seed treatment using pre-infiltration and biocontrol agents to reduce damping-off of corn caused by species of Pythium and Fusarium

ABSTRACT Bioassays were conducted in a greenhouse at 18°C to determine the effectiveness of a seed treatment used in combination with biocontrol agents for the reduction of corn damping-off caused by species of Pythium and Fusarium. Corn seeds were infiltrated with tap water, drained, air-dried, and then coated with biomass of an antagonistic fungus, Gliocladium virens isolate Gl-3, or an antagonistic bacterium, Burkholderia cepacia isolates Bc-B or Bc-1, or a combination of Gl-3 with each of the bacterial isolates. A nonsterile field soil was infested with a combination of pathogens: Pythium ultimum, P. arrhenomanes, and Fusarium graminearum at 2 inoculum rates (1× and 4×). Pre-infiltration enhanced (P ≤ 0.05) disease control with most treatments at both inoculum rates. Treatments with biocontrol agents alone or in combination, as well as the fungicide captan, effectively reduced the disease at a pathogen inoculum rate of 1×, resulting in greater (P ≤ 0.05) seedling stands, plant height, and fresh weight...