In vitro characterization of Trichoderma isolates for the biological control of wood rotting fungi.

Abstract

Pruning wounds are susceptible to wood decay diseases and the affected branch may pose a danger to the general public. Trichoderma species can be used as biological control agents for wood decay basidiomycetes (WDB) that attack pruning wounds. This study aimed to evaluate and identify such local Trichoderma strains. The local Trichoderma isolates were characterized and screened for their antagonistic activities towards the local WDB. Our study showed that the local Trichoderma species were highly diverse, even though the ones currently studied were from a small number of fruiting bodies. Significant results were obtained for the Trichoderma isolates SSK1-E1 in retarding the growth of Schizophyllum commune through VOCs production. The selected local Trichoderma isolates failed to efficiently killed off Schizophyllum commune and protect the wood blocks from decay. These Trichoderma isolates did better against Phellinus species, but such results were not observed in the VOCs test and the wood interaction test. Interestingly, the Switzerland Trichoderma isolates 685 seemed to perform well in both mycoparasitism and wood interaction test against the Phellinus species. The outcome of this study is the first step towards the identification of the suitable Trichoderma isolates for use in biological control of wood rotting fungi.