Supression of seed borne Cladosporium herbarum on common bean seed by Trichoderma harzianum and promotion of seedling development

Trichoderma harzianum isolates have been broadly used for biocontrol of plant diseases caused by fungi. Cladosporium herbarum is a common saprophyte and seed borne fungus, which is easy to manipulate under controlled conditions. It was chosen as a model to test the effectivity of seed treatments with T. harzianum. Common bean seeds (cv. Perola) contaminated with C. herbarum were treated with conidial suspension (CS) and autoclaved filtrate (AF) of five isolates of T. harzianum and subsequently submitted to health and germination tests. The proportion of normal seedlings formed, the length of roots, hypocotyls and leaves, and total plantlet length, total plantlet biomass, root mass ratio (RMR), stem mass ratio (SMR), leaf mass ratio (LMR), aerial part/root system ratio (AP/RS) and leaf area were also evaluated. Isolates CEN289 and CEN290 (CS and AF) provided 66 to 77% of supression of C. herbarum on seeds and a higher number of normal seedlings as compared with control. It also yielded a higher total biomass of plantlets. Moreover treatment with isolates CEN289 and CEN290 increased root and stem length in the experiments with CS. Such results indicate the potential of T. harzianum for seed treatment and suggest that it should be further tested as control for seed borne fungal diseases and as a plant growth promoter. The better performance found for CEN289 and CEN290 confirms the variability in terms of biocontrol activity among strains of T. harzianum.