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Title: BIOLOGICAL CONTROL OF FUSARIUM WILT DISEASES BY NONPATHOGENIC FUSARIUM SPP:FORMULATIONS AND FIELD EFFICACY

Author
item Larkin, Robert - Bob
item Fravel, Deborah
item Lewis, Jack

Submitted to: American Phytopathological Society Abstracts
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 7/18/1999
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary: N.A.

Technical Abstract: Efficacy of biological control of Fusarium wilt of tomato and muskmelon using isolates of nonpathogenic Fusarium spp. was evaluated in field tests in 1997 and 1998. Isolates of F. oxysporum (CS-20) and F. solani (CS-1), previously shown to reduce wilt in greenhouse tests, were applied to seedlings in soilless potting mix as a drench and transplanted into field locations in Beltsville (tomato) and the eastern shore of Maryland (muskmelon). In 1997, biocontrol treatments significantly reduced disease incidence on muskmelons, from 36% in control plots to 20-22% in treated plots. In tomato fields, disease incidence was uniformly low (2-1 fermentor-produced biomass of isolate CS-20 was incorporated into a granu extrusion containing rice, Pharmamedia, vermiculite, and pyrophillite clay (ARRP7), or was grown on nutrient-enriched cellulose granules (Biodac). Both formulations effectively controlled Fusarium wilt of tomato at incorporation rates of 0.1 and 0.5% (w/v), reducing disease incidence by 66-79% (ARRP7) and 66-74% (Biodac).