TY - JOUR AU - LOUNACI, Lamia AU - GUEMOURI-ATHMANI, Souad AU - BOUREGHDA, Houda AU - Achouak, Wafa AU - HEULIN, Thierry PY - 2017/01/08 Y2 - 2024/03/29 TI - Suppression of crown and root rot of wheat by the rhizobacterium Paenibacillus polymyxa JF - Phytopathologia Mediterranea JA - Phytopathol. Mediterr. VL - 55 IS - 3 SE - Research Papers DO - 10.14601/Phytopathol_Mediterr-18055 UR - https://oajournals.fupress.net/index.php/pm/article/view/5696 SP - 355-365 AB - <p>A seedling bioassay was developed for screening a wheat root-associated rhizobacterial strain of <em>Paenibacillus polymyxa </em>for ability to suppress crown and root rot pathogens of wheat. The primary aim was to evaluate the ability of <em>P. polymyxa </em>to suppress <em>Fusarium graminearum</em>, <em>F. culmorum</em>, <em>F. verticillioides</em> and <em>Microdochium nivale</em>, the fungal pathogens responsible for Fusarium crown and root rot and head blight of wheat in Algeria. Bioassays conducted under controlled conditions indicated that seed treatments with <em>P. polymyxa</em> strain SGK2 significantly reduced disease symptoms caused by all four fungal pathogens. Plant growth promotion (increased shoot and root dry weights), however, depended on the pathogen tested. Our results indicate that seed treatments with a biocontrol agent could be an additional strategy for management of wheat crown and root rot pathogens.</p> ER -