Isolation of rhizosphere fungi from wheat and their antifungal activity

doi:10.3969/j.issn.1004-1524.20241071

Acta Agriculturae Zhejiangensis ›› 2025, Vol. 37 ›› Issue (12): 2535-2544.DOI: 10.3969/j.issn.1004-1524.20241071

• Plant Protection • Previous Articles Next Articles

Isolation of rhizosphere fungi from wheat and their antifungal activity

SONG Yingjun(), CAI Yihao, ZHANG Lixia, LYU Shufang, LI Wenwen, SUO Chenmei, ZHANG Hao, HOU Dianyun, ZHAO Xingli^*()

College of Agriculture, Henan University of Science and Technology, Luoyang 471023, Henan, China

Received:2024-12-07 Online:2025-12-25 Published:2026-01-09

Abstract

Abstract:

Rizosphere microorganisms often promote plant growth, protect plants from pathogen infection, and their population size is much larger than that of non-rhizosphere microorganisms. Therefore, screening biocontrol strains for root disease management from rhizosphere microorganisms is an effective approach. Wheat crown rot, a soil-borne fungal disease, has become increasingly severe in the major wheat-producing areas of the Huang-Huai Plain in recent years. In this study, the dilution plate method was used to isolate fungi from the wheat rhizosphere. The taxonomic status of the obtained strains was determined based on morphological characteristics and ITS sequence analysis. The antagonistic effect of the isolated strains against the pathogen causing wheat crown rot was evaluated using the plate confrontation assay, and the antifungal spectrum of strains with strong antagonistic activity was further determined. The results showed that a total of 52 strains were isolated, which were classified into 14 species belonging to 6 genera, 5 families, 4 orders, 4 classes, and 2 phyla. The six identified genera and their relative abundances were as follows: Fusarium, 50.00%; Aspergillus, 13.46%; Cladosporium, 13.46%; Penicillium, 11.54%; Irpex, 7.69%; and Sarocladium, 3.85%. Among the isolated strains, 28 strains mainly exhibited substrate competition against Fusarium pseudograminearum (the pathogen of wheat crown rot), with growth inhibition rates ranging from 17% to 75%. Two strains (designated as W-F-15 and W-F-20) mainly showed antibiotic activity. Between them, Aspergillus terreus strain W-F-20 had stronger antibiotic activity, with an inhibition zone width of 15 mm and a growth inhibition rate of 62%. Meanwhile, the strain W-F-20 also exhibited antibiotic activity against 9 other plant pathogenic fungi, showing a broad-spectrum resistance. This study provides theoretical support and basic materials for the further development and utilization of fungal resources in the control of wheat crown rot.

Key words: rhizosphere fungi, wheat, microbial diversity, antifungal activity

CLC Number:

SONG Yingjun, CAI Yihao, ZHANG Lixia, LYU Shufang, LI Wenwen, SUO Chenmei, ZHANG Hao, HOU Dianyun, ZHAO Xingli. Isolation of rhizosphere fungi from wheat and their antifungal activity[J]. Acta Agriculturae Zhejiangensis, 2025, 37(12): 2535-2544.

Figures/Tables 7

Fig.1 Taxonomic distribution of rhizosphere fungi associated with wheat at phylum, class, order, family level

Table 1 Summary of representative rhizosphere fungi in each genus according to ITS sequences

属 Genus	菌株编号 Strain number	GenBank登录号 Accession number in GenBank	最相关的菌株(登录号) Most closely related strain (accession number)	一致性 Identity/%
曲霉属Aspergillus	W-F-5	PQ577766	Aspergillus niger(MN429196)	100.00
枝孢属Cladosporium	W-F-6	PQ577767	Cladosporium cladosporioides(OM237122)	99.61
镰孢属Fusarium	W-F-4	PQ577765	Fusarium fujikuroi (MN871566)	99.81
耙菌属Irpex	W-F-13	PQ577768	Irpex lacteus(MT085750)	99.84
青霉属Penicillium	W-F-15	PQ577769	Penicillium janthinellum(KT779551)	99.63
帚枝霉属Sarocladium	W-F-22	PQ577771	Sarocladium spinificis(MZ447507)	99.82

Fig.2 The constructed phylogenetic tree of isolated fungi strain W-F-20 based on ITS sequences

Fig.3 Antagonistic effect of strain W-F-20 on the pathogen of wheat crown rot A, Front view of the control (CK); B, Front view of the treatment with strain W-F-20; C, Back view of the control (CK); D, Back view of the treatment with strain W-F-20.

Fig.4 Antibiosis of W-F-20 strain against nine plant pathogenic fungi Bc, Botrytis cinerea; Cl, Curvularia lunata; Fg, Fusarium graminearum; Fo, Fusarium oxysporum; Pci, Penicillium citrinum; Pa, Phoma arachidicola; Pco, Phyllosticta commonsii, Ss, Sclerotinia sclerotiorum; Tb, Thielaviopsis basicola. The same as below. A, Front view of the control (CK); B, Back view of the control (CK); C, Front view of the treatment with strain W-F-20; D, Back view of the treatment with strain W-F-20.

Fig.5 Inhibition width of W-F-20 strain against ten plant pathogenic fungi Fp, Fusarium pesudograminearum. Bars marked without the same letters indicate significant (p<0.05) difference within treatments. The same as below.

Fig.6 Growth inhibition rate of W-F-20 strain against ten plant pathogenic fungi

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Isolation of rhizosphere fungi from wheat and their antifungal activity

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