African Journal of Biotechnology Vol. 5 (8), pp. 580-584, 18 April 2006   

ISSN 1684–5315 © 2006 Academic Journals        

Full Length Research Paper

Genetic relatedness among Trichoderma isolates inhibiting a pathogenic fungi Rhizoctonia solani

Shalini ^1*, Narayan, K. P. ¹, Lata¹ and Kotasthane, A. S.²

¹Division of Microbiology, Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi, India.

²Department of Biotechnology, Indira Gandhi Agricultural University, Raipur, Chhatish Garh, India.

*Corresponding author: Email: shalini222003@yahoo.co.in. Tel: 91-9868337476 (M).

Accepted 23 February, 2006

The mechanism and mode of action of the Trichoderma against Rhizoctonia solani is through coiling around pathogen hyphae, penetration, and subsequent dissolution of the host cytoplasm. Characterization of 17 biocontrol strains identified as “Trichoderma” and isolated from R. solani was carried out using RAPDs. A certain degree of polymorphism was detected and the cluster analysis grouped the 17 isolates into three groups: T. harzianum, T. viride, and T. aureoviride. Some of the RAPD markers were also useful for identifying strains of T. aureoviride within the complex collections from Raipur and Bilaspur in India.

Key words: Antagonism, mycoparasitism, random amplified polymorphic DNA, Rhizoctonia solani, Trichoderma.