Investigation of biological control of dodder (Cuscuta monogyna) by Alternaria spp

Subject Areas : New Finding in Agriculture

E.  Ganji ¹ (M.Sc. in Agronomy, Mashhad Branch, Islamic Azad University, Mashhad, Iran)
R.  Ghorbani ² (Prof., Faculty of Agriculture, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad)
K.  Bakhsh Kelarestaghi ³ (Department of Agronomy and Plant Breeding, Mashhad Branch, Islamic Azad University, Mashhad, Iran)

Received: 2015-11-28 Accepted : 2015-11-28 Published : 2011-10-23

Keywords: Alternaria spp, Common Privet, Dew period, Concentration of spore suspention,

Abstract :

      The parasitic weed, dodder ( Cuscuta monogyna) caused severe damage to agricultural ecosystems and city landscapes of Mashhad, in recent years. In order to biological control of this parasite, a study was done during 2010-11. Several strains of fungi were obtained from infected tissues of dodder  which were collected from city landascapes. One strain of Alternaria spp. was selected as the best strain and applied on dodder after its connection to the host in two experiments which were conducted using completely randomized designs in greenhouse. In these experiments the effects of different concentrations of spore suspensions (104, 105, 106 and 107 spores ml-1),host domain and various dew periods (0, 6, 12, 18 and 24 hours) were investigated. Results of host domain experiment on common privet, petunia, pepper indicated that this strain had no pathogenicity on these plants. The pathogencity of fungi enhanced with increasing spore concentration. A spore concentration of 107 spores ml-1 caused 39.9 percent reduction in dry mass of dodder. Increasing time of dew period  caused more disease. Therefore, this strain of Alternaria spp. needs more than 18 hours dew period to cause 31.75 percent reduction in dry mass of dodder. According to these results, it can be inferred that this strain has the potential ability of controlling the dodder.

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