Title : Performance of sugarcane seedlings infected with fusarium and treated with the entomopathogen Metarhizium anisopliae.
Abstract:
The stem rot need attention due to the losses that may occur in the industry due it be the diseases that limit the quality of sugarcane production. Commonly, management is done through fungicide applications, however, the use of antagonistic microrganisms is an alternative control method and does not cause contamination in the environment or for the applicator. Metarhizium anisopliae, a microbial agent of extreme importance in pest control, has shown a potential inhibitory effect on Fusarium spp, the pathogen that causes rot. The objective was to evaluate the effect of M. anisopliae on the initial growth of sugarcane with Fusarium spp. interaction. Gems of stalks healthy sugarcane variety RB867515 were washed and subjected to superficial disinfestation in sodium hypochlorite solution followed by 70% alcohol. They were then suspended at 1x105 spores/ml of Fusarium for 30 minutes and planted in pots containing soil infested with a suspension of 1x107 spores/ml of Metarhizium. Where the following treatments were carried out without applying Metarhizium and Fusarium (T0); application of Metarhizium (T1); application of Metarhizium and Fusarium (T2); and application of Fusarium (T3). A DIC was used, with four treatments and five replications. The height, thickness and number of leaves were evaluated at intervals of 21, 42 and 62 days. Subsequently, the fresh and dry weight of the aerial part and roots and root length were evaluated. Plants treated with Metarhizium (T1) had the greatest height compared to plants inoculated with Fusarium (T4). Plants treated with Metarhizium and Fusarium (T2) had the greatest thickness up to 42 days, in addition to the greatest number of leaves, and the highest average fresh weight of the roots. The application of Metarhizium (T1) resulted in higher fresh and dry weights of the aerial part of the plants. Given this, its potential use as a biocontroller, involving its beneficial action in the management of rot, can be applied preventively and will contribute to increasing phytopathogen control strategies, especially before the crop is implemented in the field.
Audience Takeaway:
- Insights into how the use of the entomopathogen Metarhizium anisopliae can be used to promote growth in plants.
- Furthermore, this microorganism can act to reduce the negative effects of phytopathogen
- Fusarium infection, an agent that causes rot in several crops of agricultural interest.
- Sugarcane cultivation is widely practiced in Brazil and in several regions of the world.
- This crop is extremely important, due to its capacity to produce sugar, ethanol, which is a clean and renewable energy source and currently most required in the energy transition.
- The use of Metarhizium in the production of pre-sprouted sugarcane seedlings can result in greater efficiency in obtaining seedling vigor in the initial stage of development, representing an important prerequisite potentially favorable to the implementation of new sugarcane plantations.
- This research offers a basis for other researchers in the areas of Agronomy, Biology, Forestry Engineering, Horticulture, Fruit Culture, Phytopathology, Entomology who want to expand their studies in biological control of plant diseases or induction of growth in plants with the use of entomopathogens.
