Title : Biocontrol of fusarium and other fungal diseases of cereals using bacterial compounds and plant extracts
Abstract:
The development of biological alternatives to synthetic fungicides is increasingly urgent in the context of the progressive withdrawal of chemical active substances by the European Commission and growing concerns about environmental accumulation, resistance development, and food safety. Biological preparations, including plant extracts and fermentation-derived bacterial products, offer low environmental-risk alternatives that do not accumulate in soil, carry no mutagenic risk, and are compatible with integrated pest management (IPM) and organic farming frameworks. While synthetic fungicides provide high disease control efficacy, biological preparations are therefore best positioned as complementary tools within a hybrid protection model. The in vitro and greenhouse studies aimed to evaluate biological preparations for controlling wheat diseases caused by fungi of the Fusarium genus as well as diseases affecting the stem base. Plant extracts (garlic - Allium sativum, Jerusalem artichoke - Helianthus tuberosus) and supernatant (fermentation broth) obtained with the Paenibacillus and Enterobacter bacteria were tested at three concentrations. In laboratory experiments, the degree of inhibition of the growth of the mycelium of the tested fungal species was determined, while in greenhouse studies, the effectiveness in limiting the development of stem base diseases and the impact of the applied biopreparations on plant growth were evaluated. Among the plant extracts, H. tuberosus demonstrated superior antifungal activity, achieving up to 100% inhibition of R. cerealis mycelial growth at 10% concentration and reducing disease severity by 34.3% compared to the untreated control under greenhouse conditions. Results indicate that H. tuberosus extract and Paenibacillus sp. supernatant represent promising candidates for further field evaluation as components of sustainable wheat protection programs.
