Evaluation on Screening Methods for Trichoderma spp.Antagonistic to Fusarium oxysporum

In attempt to establish an high-throughput screening method of biocontrol Trichoderma strains against Fusarium oxysporum in cucumber,authors compared selection efficiency of five screening methods,that is dual-culture method,pathogen survival measurement after treatment with antagonistic microbe,degradation of pathogen's mycelium after treatment with secretion of biocontrol microbe,seed germination recovery test after target pathogen infected by biocontrol microbe and the screening of biocontrol microbe on host seedling in the presence of pathogen.Results showed that the final screening result of each method varied among the five tested methods.However,the method based on pathogen survival measurement after Trichoderma treatment gave rise to a highly consistent result with that from the screening on inoculated living host seedlings.The authors therefore recommended the pathogen survival measurement after Trichoderma treatment as an effective approach to make the preliminary screening of biocontrol Trichoderma strains.