Faridah Abdullah, Mohd. Hefni Rusli and Noor Haida Sebran. Bacteria from an oil palm agricultural system and their interactions with Ganoderma boninense and Trichoderma harzianum. 2006. Pertanika J.Trop.Agric.Sci.28 (2): 95-102 (2005)
Bacteria from an oil palm agricultural system and their interactions with Ganoderma boninense and Trichoderma harzianum
Mohd. Hefni Rusli, Faridah Abdullah & Noor Haida Sebran
Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Universiti Putra Malaysia.
43400 UPM, Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia
Abstract
The fungus Trichoderma harzianum (isolate FA 1132) has shown potential as a biological control agent of the oil palm pathogen Ganoderma boninense. It is currently being produced on a large scale as a Trichoderma-infused compost for field trials. This study isolated bacteria from such a compost as well as from oil palm rhizospheres. They were screened for antagonistic reactions towards G. boninense after which the selected strains were tested for compatibility with FA 1132. Four out of six species of bacteria showed fungistatic activity towards G. boninense, with Corynebacterium urealyticum giving the highest percentage inhibition at 86.6%. Except for C. urealyticum, all the other isolates were compatible with the fungus FA 1132. This study deduced that Chromobacterium violaceum and Burkholderia cepacia may have the capacity to act as respective individual inoculants to inhibit the growth of G. boninense or used in consortium with T. harzianum (FA 1132) for enhanced performance in a biological control formulation. This study also deduced that the efficacy of T. harzianum could be reduced if the population of C. urealyticum is high in the oil palm rhizhosphere.
Keywords: Ganoderma boninense, oil palm, biological control, bacteria, Trichoderma harzianum.
Mohd. Hefni Rusli, Faridah Abdullah & Noor Haida Sebran
Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Universiti Putra Malaysia.
43400 UPM, Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia
Abstract
The fungus Trichoderma harzianum (isolate FA 1132) has shown potential as a biological control agent of the oil palm pathogen Ganoderma boninense. It is currently being produced on a large scale as a Trichoderma-infused compost for field trials. This study isolated bacteria from such a compost as well as from oil palm rhizospheres. They were screened for antagonistic reactions towards G. boninense after which the selected strains were tested for compatibility with FA 1132. Four out of six species of bacteria showed fungistatic activity towards G. boninense, with Corynebacterium urealyticum giving the highest percentage inhibition at 86.6%. Except for C. urealyticum, all the other isolates were compatible with the fungus FA 1132. This study deduced that Chromobacterium violaceum and Burkholderia cepacia may have the capacity to act as respective individual inoculants to inhibit the growth of G. boninense or used in consortium with T. harzianum (FA 1132) for enhanced performance in a biological control formulation. This study also deduced that the efficacy of T. harzianum could be reduced if the population of C. urealyticum is high in the oil palm rhizhosphere.
Keywords: Ganoderma boninense, oil palm, biological control, bacteria, Trichoderma harzianum.
