What is Trichoderma?
Trichoderma is a beneficial fungus which shows antagonistic action against soil borne pathogen and has the ability to suppress the activities of those pathogen. The mode of action may be antagoinstic (competition) orantibi_ otic (Viridin) or myco f u (through enzyme action). In view of these properties, Trichoderma is widely used as an effective bio-control agent against several soil-borne diseases of different crops. Coffee root diseases, how serious are they? In coffee, three types of root diseases viz., Brown root diseases (Fomes noxius), Red root diseases (Poria hypolateritia) and Santavery root diseases (Fusarium oxysporum) are important as they cause considerable losses in certain endemic patches. These root diseases are caused by the pathogens present in the soil and hence it is difficult to detect the diseases in early stages of infection. The infected plant gradually wilts, defoliates and dies subsequently. The diseases can spread to the neighbouring plants in the soil itself
Trichoderma is a fungal genus found in many regions of the world. These fungi are ubiquitous in a wide variety of environments, showing up in soil, forests, wood, and paper, among other locations. Humans are primarily interested in this fungus as a beneficial symbiotic partner for plants, particularly crops, although members of this genus do have some other uses and benefits for humans. Industrial-scale cultivation of these fungi is common to several industries. These fungi appear in the form of colonies of mold which start out transparent, turning white or yellowish over time. When the mold matures and begins producing spores, it darkens and turns green to gray. Many Trichoderma species have a distinctive sweet scent which is often compared to coconuts. The colony is fast growing, and it will typically mature within five days. Trichoderma molds tend to prefer moderate temperatures, which allows them to thrive in a variety of climates. Several species also have teleomorphs or sexually-
Trichoderma is a cosmopolitan soil and compost-borne saprotrophic fungus used widely as a biological control agent in the fight against plant diseases caused by economically important plant pathogens. Considerable efforts, both in the academic and commercial sectors, have been made to promote this group offungi as a credible alternative to synthetic chemicals in the fight against plant disease. A number of formulations containing biocontrol and plant-growth-promoting strains of T.harzianum, T. virens and T. viride are now marketed for thispurpose, but despite a proven ability to control soil and compost-borne pathogens, their potential as ecologically sound alternatives to organic fungicides has yet to be fully realized. One reason for this lack of success can be attributed to the absence of accurate and sensitive methods for monitoring the activity of biocontrol strains introduced into complex environments that contain mixed populations of fungi, such as soil and compost growing media
There are many beneficial fungi in the soil . Many of these are in the genus Trichoderma. Most Trichoderma live in the soil, but some prefer the root surface. They consume other fungi, decaying organic matter and nutrients secreted from plant roots. Various Trichoderma species are prevalent in well-made compost. Trichoderma is beneficial for biological control of soilborne diseases because is suppresses or kills pathogenic fungi. It does so both through antibiosis (making compounds that are poisonous to other fungi) and through mycoparasitism (consuming other fungi). What is T-22? T-22 is a strain of the species Trichoderma harzianum that was developed at Cornell to have superior biological control properties. It is the result of a vegetative hybridization between two promising strains that had been isolated earlier. The crossing and selection work were done by A. Sivan, Tom Stasz and Gary Harman in Professor Harman’s lab in 1985. What makes T-22 special? T-22 was developed to have two
Trichoderma is a micro-organism (in fact called a beneficial fungi) that inhabits the soil, and attacks a wide range of the destructive fungi that often kill our CPs. In technical terms, Trichoderma is a mycoparasite, or saprophyte, which feeds on pathogenic fungi. There is photographic evidence held by the CSIRO showing Trichoderma actively parasitising basideomycetes including Armillaria, mellea, Rhyzoctonia solari and Chondrostereum purpureum. In fact, Trichoderma can control the growth of many opportunistic, wood-infecting, decay fungi, as well as many soil-borne fungi responsible for seedling wilt and damping off (e.g. Fusarium and Pythium). Does it work? Pro-Pine Nursery Supplies of Kilsyth extensively tested Trichoderma on hundreds of cyclamen which were constantly suffering fungi attacks. In the past, the plants underwent an extensive process in an effort to stop fungi attacks. Pots were steam treated, potting mix was sterilised, and plants were chemically treated against fungi
