Fungal endophytes in species of paspalum and bromus, occurrence and in vitro antagonistic activity assessment

Abstract

The aims of this work were to study the occurrence of fungiassociated to Paspalum dilatatum, P. notatum, Bromus biebersteiniiand B. catharticus and to evaluate their potential as antagonisticagents against fungal pathogens. The genera Acremonium, Alternaria,Aspergillus, Curvularia, Fusarium, Penicillium and Stemphylium werethe most representative isolated fungi. The isolates of the genusAcremonium showed antagonistic activity against different putativepathogenic species tested in dual cultures. The results suggest that theinteractions and mechanisms of antagonism of the same strain varyaccording to the putative pathogenic strains to which they are facedto. The results encourage further studies to elucidate if the strainsisolated in this study are good candidates for biological control of latentpathogens in pastures. To accomplish this, future studies focused onthe analysis of the secondary metabolites produced by the antagonistsin the culture medium, as well as assays in planta will be conducted.