Biological Control Potential of Ectomycorrhizal Fungi against Fusarium circinatum on Pinus patula seedlings

The South Africa forestry industry, covering 1.3 million hectares, is dependent on exotic pine and eucalyptus species. Nursery seedlings are not inoculated with ectomycorrhizal (ECM) fungi or other beneficial microbes. Fusarium circinatum is an economically important pathogen affecting seedling survival. The purpose of this investigation was to assess to determine the effects of ectomycorrhizal fungal inoculation on Pinus paulta seedling growth and resistance to the fungal pathogen F. circiantum . Explants from ECM basidiocarps, collected from Pinus stands, were plated onto MMN medium to obtain isolates which were verified using molecular techniques. These isolates were identified as Boletus edulis f. reticulatus, Lactarius quieticolor, Suillus granulatus and an additional Suillus isolate. P. patula growth in the presence of the pathogen F. circinatum was significantly increased and promoted by the L. quieticolor and Suillus isolates. Inoculation of seedlings in the nursery would ensure the production of stronger healthy plants which may be more tolerant to fusarial infection, increasing survival in the plantation.