The first report of Pyrenochaetopsis terricola as a dark septate endophytic fungus antagonistic to Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. Lycopersici, a pathogen causing wilt disease in tomato plants

Abstract In tropical areas like Indonesia, there hasn't been much research on dark septate endophyte fungi (DSE), particularly to take advantage of its function as a plant disease controller. The aim of this study was to investigate if DSE isolates DS08-Ib and DS08-Ic could control Fusarium wilt in tomatoes. Molecular analysis revealed that those isolates are related to Pyrenochaetopsis terricola. Siderophores and hydrolytic enzymes such as catalase and glucanase were produced by P. terricola DS08-Ib and DS08-Ic. The P. terricola DS08-Ic was capable of producing chitinase, whereas P. terricola DS08-Ib was not. In the nursery system, tomato plant inoculated with P. terricola DS08-Ib and DS08-Ic and challenged with Fol had a lower disease incidence than the control, at 37.04% and 37.04%, respectively, whereas the disease incidence in the control was 92.59%. Under Fol challenge, Inoculation of DS08-Ib and DS08-Ic increased tomato seedling dry weight by 37.5% and 33.3%, respectively, and plant height by 32.6% and 18.5%, respectively, compared to the control treatment. Plants inoculated with P. terricola DS08-Ib and DS08-Ic produced a higher peroxidase response than the control under Fol challenge. The two DSE fungi colonized the roots of tomat seedling in the nursery system. In this study, we found that P. terricola has DSE characteristics and could suppress Fusarium wilt of tomato. In the future, the two DSE fungi could help to promote sustainable agriculture by reducing pesticide use to suppress Fusarium wilt in tomato plants.