Competitive colonization of wheat straw by Trichoderma species and Sclerotium rolfsii.

Trichoderma harzianum and T. pseudokoningii inhibited the growth of Sclerotium rolfsii In vitro and produced coiling around mycelium of S. rolfsii resulting in lysis of hyphae. Trichoderma polysporum and T. virens also inhibited the growth of S. rolfsii but there was no coiling around its mycelium. In vitro interactions of S. rolfsii with microbial antagonists in dual culture assay corroborate well with competitive colonization of wheat straw by Trichoderma spp., and Sclerotium rolfsii. Trichoderma spp., colonized the straw more rapidly than S. rolfsii, over grew the straw pieces colonized by S. rolfsii and gradually eliminated the pathogen from the straw pieces.