© Benaki Phytopathological Institute
Hellenic Plant Protection Journal - Special Issue
68
somal RNA gene. The sequences were com-
pared to a library (MicroSeq® Fungal Gene
library) containing D2 sequence entries from
more than 1000 validated species, using Mi-
croSeq® ID Analysis software. The isolates
identified included 39
Aureobasidium pullu-
lans
, 9
Cryptococcus magnus
, 1
Pseudozyma
onfarclica aphidis
, 1
Hanseniaspora opuntiae
and 1
Αcremonium glaucum.
After identifica-
tion, the isolates were screened for
in vitro
antagonism against
Aspergillus tubingensis
by the dual culture technique on PDA plates.
The isolates showing antagonism (the pres-
ence of an inhibition zone) were also test-
ed in a detached berry test. Berries were im-
mersed in a suspension of the selected yeast
isolates and a conidial suspension of
A. tub-
ingensis
was spot inoculated on a wound
made on each berry. The inhibition of fun-
gal growth was determined 7 days after
A.
tubingensis
inoculation. The isolates with
the highest inhibition percentage (93.78%
and 90.08%) belonged to the species
Aure-
obasidium pullulans
.
Biological control of
Aspergillus carbonarius
in pomegranates
P. S
KIADAS
, M. D
IMAKOPOULOU
, S.E. T
JAMOS
and E.J. P
APLOMATAS
Laboratory of Plant Pathology, Agricultural University of Athens, 75 Iera Odos Str.,
GR-118 55 Athens, Greece
The plant pathogen
Aspergillus carbonar-
ius
causes one of the most significant post
harvest diseases in stored fruits leading to
rot and contamination with the mycotoxin
ochrotoxin A (OTA). The aim of the study was
the isolation of epiphytic microorganisms
from pomegranates and the
in vitro
test-
ing of these microorganisms for their effica-
cy against
A. carbonarius.
A number of mor-
phologically distinct microorganisms were
isolated and tested against
A. carbonarius
by
using a pomegranate bioassay. The pome-
granates were immersed in a suspension of
the isolated microorganisms and after one
day they were infected with the pathogen
by making an incision on the surface of the
fruits and applying 10 μl of
A. carbonari-
us
spores at a concentration of 10
5
spores/
ml. Two out of the 30 isolated microorgan-
isms significantly reduced
A. carbonarius
rot
on the surface of the tested pomegranates;
however, only one of these was capable of
reducing significantly the total number of
pathogen spores produced.
Screening of the biocontrol agents
Paenibacilus alvei
Κ165 and
Fusarium
oxysporum
F2 talc preparations against the plant pathogen fungus
Verticillium dahliae
S.E. T
JAMOS
, D. A
GGELOPOULOU
, E. N
ASKA
and E.J. P
APLOMATAS
Laboratory of Plant Pathology, Agricultural University of Athens, 75 Iera Odos Str.,
GR-118 55 Athens, Greece
Verticilliumdahliae
is among themost patho-
genic plant microorganisms, mainly due to
the lack of effective chemical control strat-
egies. Therefore, it is evident that the devel-
opment of biocontrol strategies against this
pathogen is of vital importance for agricul-
ture. The aim of this study was to develop
and evaluate the efficacy of easy to apply
formulations of already known biocontrol
agents (BCAs) of
V. dahliae
. For this purpose,
talc preparations of 2 BCAs, either
Paeni-
bacilus alvei
Κ165 or
Fusarium oxysporum
F2,
were mixed with potting soil at a ratio of 1%,
5%, 10% and 20% and used as substrates for
eggplant cultivation, or were used for seed
coating. At the stage of the 3
rd
-4
th
leaf, the
plants were transplanted into soil infested
with 20
V. dahliae
microsclerotia per gram
of soil. It was observed that the ratios 1%,
5%, 10% and 20% of both BCAs in soil were
