Fusarium root rot in Vietnamese ginseng (Panax vietnamensis Ha et Grushv.) and potential biocontrol
摘要
The cultivation of Vietnamese ginseng (Panax vietnamensis Ha et Grushv.) in Vietnam has recently been severely affected by outbreaks of root rot disease, leading to a significant reduction in productivity and quality. Despite the development of numerous agricultural and biotechnological solutions to address the disease, the adopted control strategies have yet to achieve effectiveness. In this study, we identified two previously unassigned fungal pathogens of Vietnamese ginseng as Fusarium stercicola (syn. F. witzenhausenense, Neocosmospora stercicola) SNL 23.1 and Fusarium babinda SNL 23.2 by morphological and multilocus molecular analyses. Both fungal strains exhibited an ability to induce the symptoms of root rot and leaf wilting on Vietnamese ginseng plantlets within 9 days of inoculation under pot experiments. Furthermore, five Streptomyces spp. strains with potential antifungal activities against the isolated fungal pathogens have been detected by dual-culture assay. These findings suggest that the identified Streptomyces strains could serve as promising biocontrol agents for managing root rot diseases of Vietnamese ginseng caused by Fusarium species.