Endophytic fungi from avocado trees exhibit potential for multi-target biocontrol applications

BACKGROUND Endophytic fungi are naturally inhabiting plant organs without causing disease symptoms. They can also contribute to their host’s pest and disease resistance by displaying entomopathogenic and/or antifungal traits. In this study, we evaluated the ability of 11 strains of avocado fungal endophytes to antagonize three important avocado plant pathogens: Colletotrichum gloeosporioides, Fusarium solani, and Phytophthora cinnamomi , and two insect pests: Sitophilus zeamais and Xyleborus bispinatus . RESULTS The results show that Trichoderma spp. strains were the most effective against the evaluated plant pathogens in terms of growth inhibition, in direct contact assays or through metabolite production. Other fungi, such as Purpureocillium sp. and Pochonia sp., only exhibited pathogen inhibition through diffusible metabolites but displayed strong insecticidal capacity against the evaluated pests, hence being identified as promising multi-target biocontrol agents in the integrative analysis. CONCLUSION Our findings evidence the potential of avocado fungal endophytes and their metabolites as multi-target biocontrol agents of crop pests and pathogens.