Skip to main navigation menu Skip to main content Skip to site footer

Research Articles

Vol. 12 No. sp4 (2025): Recent Advances in Agriculture by Young Minds - III

Potential role of wheat endophytes and weed leaf extracts in the management of Fusarium head blight

DOI
https://doi.org/10.14719/pst.9535
Submitted
20 May 2025
Published
29-10-2025

Abstract

Wheat (Triticum spp.) was known to be mostly grown cereal crops globally and consumed as staple food by 35 % population of the world. The average productivity may decrease throughout the world due to outbreak of Fusarium graminearum which cause Fusarium head blight disease in wheat crop. This research was conducted to find potential of these 11 endophytic fungus and bacteria isolated from wheat crop and 2 plant extracts which were evaluated as biological control agents and leaf leachates against Fusarium graminaearum as an alternative eco-friendly approach for chemical pesticides due to resistance occur in pathogens by overdose and some harmful chemical residues left by them in soil. The data revealed that maximum mycelial inhibition of test pathogen was showed by Aspergillus niger (93.32 %) followed by Curvularia lunata (90.31 %) and Bacillus subtilis (89.41 %). The data revealed that maximum mycelial inhibition of test pathogen was carried out by methanol + Ageratum conyzoides in 6 % and 4 % conc. (98.29 %) and (98.06 %) followed by ethanol + Parthenium hysterophorus in 6 % conc. (97.78 %). 

References

  1. 1. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. FAOSTAT. Rome; 2022. https://www.fao.org/faostat/en/#data
  2. 2. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. FAOSTAT. Rome; 2024. https://www.fao.org/worldfoodsituation/csdb/en
  3. 3. Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority. Wheat. New Delhi: APEDA; 2024.
  4. 4. Savary S, Willocquet L, Pethybridge SJ, Esker P, McRoberts N, Nelson A. The global burden of pathogens and pests on major food crops. Nat Ecol Evol. 2019;3:430-9. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-018-0793-y
  5. 5. Summerell BA. Resolving Fusarium: Current status of the genus. Annu Rev Phytopathol. 2019;57:323-39. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-phyto-082718-100204
  6. 6. Powell AJ, Vujanovic V. Evolution of Fusarium head blight management in wheat: scientific perspectives on biological control agents and crop genotypes protocooperation. Appl Sci. 2021;11(19):8960 https://doi.org/10.3390/app11198960
  7. 7. Darwish WS, Ikenaka Y, Nakayama SM, Ishizuka M. An overview on mycotoxin contamination of foods in Africa. J Vet Med Sci. 2014;76(6):789-97. https://doi.org/10.1292/jvms.13-0563
  8. 8. Dean R, Van Kan JAL, Pretorius ZA, Hammond-Kosack KE, Di Pietro A, Spanu PD, et al. The top 10 fungal pathogens in molecular plant pathology. Mol Plant Pathol. 2012;13(4):414-30. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1364-3703.2011.00783.x
  9. 9. Singh R, Dubey AK. Endophytic actinomycetes as emerging source for therapeutic compounds. Indo Global J Pharm Sci. 2015;5(2):106-16. https://doi.org/10.35652/IGJPS.2015.11
  10. 10. Srivastava S, Aspak, Rana M, Katayayani KKS, Kaushik D, Kumar R, et al. Exploring the bioefficacy of endophytic bacteria against important plant pathogens. J Biopest. 2023;16(1):79-99. https://doi.org/10.57182/jbiopestic.16.1.79-99
  11. 11. Priyashantha AKH, Karunarathna SC, Lu L, Tibpromma S. Fungal endophytes: An alternative biocontrol agent against phytopathogenic fungi. Encyclopedia. 2023;3:759-80. https://doi.org/10.3390/encyclopedia3020055
  12. 12. Maurya S, Ntakirutimana R, Debnath B, Rana M, Kaushik D, Srivastava S. Trichoderma and their secondary metabolites - A potential approach in plant disease management. Biopestic Int. 2024;20(1):21-33. https://doi.org/10.59467/BI.2024.20.21
  13. 13. Kumari P, Deepa N, Trivedi PK, Singh BK, Srivastava V, Singh A. Plants and endophytes interaction: a "secret wedlock" for sustainable biosynthesis of pharmaceutically important secondary metabolites. Microb Cell Fact. 2023;22:226. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12934-023-02234-8
  14. 14. Manias D, Verma A, Soni DK. Isolation and characterization of endophytes: Biochemical and molecular approach. In: Kumar A, Singh VK, editors. Microbial Endophytes. Cambridge (MA): Academic Press; 2020. p. 1–14
  15. 15. Xu M, Wang Q, Wang G, Zhang X, Liu H, Jiang C. Combatting Fusarium head blight: Advances in molecular interactions between Fusarium graminearum and wheat. Phytopath Res. 2022;4:37. https://doi.org/10.1186/s42483-022-00142-0
  16. 16. Yuksektepe B, Sefer O, Varol GI, Teker T, Arslan M, Cetin BN, et al. Identification of Fusarium graminearum and Fusarium culmorum isolates via conventional and molecular methods. Eur J Biol. 2020;81(1):107-16.
  17. 17. Tembhare NR, Mate GD, Gajbhiye PR. Phyllosphere fungi of chilli and antagonism against Colletotrichum capsici. J. Pl. Dis. Sci. 2012;7(1):45-7.
  18. 18. Grover RK, Moore JD. Toximetric studies of fungicides against the brown rot organisms, Sclerotinia fructicola and S. laxa. Phytopathol. 1962;52:876-9.
  19. 19. Vincent JM. Distortion of fungal hyphae in the presence of certain inhibitors. Nature. 1947;159(4051):850. https://doi.org/10.1038/159850b0
  20. 20. Yamuna P, Abirami P, Vijayashalini P, Sharmila M. GC-MS analysis of bioactive compounds in the entire plant parts of ethanolic extract of Gomphrena decumbens Jacq. J. Medicinal Plants Stud. 2017;5:31-7.
  21. 21. Gomez KA, Gomez AA. Statistical procedures for agricultural research. 2nd ed. New York: John Wiley & Sons; 1984. p. 246
  22. 22. Chandel SRS. A handbook of agricultural statistics. Kanpur (IN): Achal Prakashan; 2002. p. A-99–A-101.
  23. 23. Podgórska-Kryszczuk I, Solarska E, Kordowska-Wiater M. Biological control of Fusarium culmorum, Fusarium graminearum and Fusarium poae by antagonistic yeasts. Pathogens. 2022;11(1):86. https://doi.org/10.3390/pathogens11010086
  24. 24. Tumangger BS, Nadilla F, Baiduri N, Mardina V. In vitro screening of endophytic fungi associated with mangroves as biofertilizer on the growth of black rice (Oryza sativa L. "Cempo Ireng"). In: IOP Conference Series: Materials Science and Engineering; 2018 Mar 6–7; Banda Aceh, Indonesia. Bristol (UK): IOP Publishing; 2018. p. 012080. https://doi.org/10.1088/1757-899X/420/1/012080
  25. 25. Bamisile BS, Dash CK, Akutse KS, Keppanan R, Wang L. Fungal endophytes: Beyond herbivore management. Front Microbiol. 2018;9:544. https://doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2018.00544
  26. 26. van Dam P, de Sain M, Ter Horst A, van der Gragt M, Rep M. Use of comparative genomics-based markers for discrimination of host specificity in Fusarium oxysporum. Appl Environ. Microbiol. 2017;84(1):e01868-17. https://doi.org/10.1128/AEM.01868-17
  27. 27. de Lamo FJ, Takken FLW. Biocontrol by Fusarium oxysporum using endophyte-mediated resistance. Front Plant Sci. 2020;11:37. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpls.2020.00037
  28. 28. Bacon CW, Hinton DM. Potential for control of seedling blight of wheat caused by Fusarium graminearum and related species using the bacterial endophyte Bacillus mojavensis. Biocontrol Sci Technol. 2007;17:81-94. https://doi.org/10.1080/09583150600937006
  29. 29. Larran S, Simón MR, Moreno MV, Santamarina Siurana MP, Perelló A. Endophytes from wheat as biocontrol agents against tan spot disease. Bio Control. 2016;92:17-23. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocontrol.2015.09.002
  30. 30. Attia MS, Salem MS, Abdelaziz AM. Endophytic fungi Aspergillus spp. reduce fusarial wilt disease severity, enhance growth, metabolism and stimulate the plant defense system in pepper plants. Biomass Conv Bioref. 2024;14:16603-13. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13399-022-03607-6
  31. 31. Iqbal MS, Ansari MI. Microbial bioinoculants for salt stress tolerance in plants. In: Microbial mitigation of stress response of food legumes. Boca Raton (FL): CRC Press; 2020. p. 155–63 https://doi.org/10.1201/9781003028413-16
  32. 32. Chaturvedi A, Saraswat P, Singh A, Tyagi P, Ranjan R. Biostimulants: An alternative to chemical pesticides for crop protection. In: Biostimulants for crop production and sustainable agriculture. Cambridge: Woodhead Publishing; 2022. p. 139–58 https://doi.org/10.1079/9781789248098.0010
  33. 33. Sharaf MH, Abdelaziz AM, Kalaba MH, Radwan AA, Hashem AH. Antimicrobial, antioxidant, cytotoxic activities and phytochemical analysis of fungal endophytes isolated from Ocimum basilicum. Appl Biochem Biotechnol. 2022;194(3):1271-89. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12010-021-03702-w
  34. 34. Lubna, Asaf S, Hamayun M, Khan AL, Waqas M, Khan MA, et al. Salt tolerance of Glycine max L. induced by endophytic fungus Aspergillus flavus CSH1, via regulating its endogenous hormones and antioxidative system. Plant Physiol. Biochem. 2018;128:13-23. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.plaphy.2018.05.007
  35. 35. Arif Y, Bajguz A, Hayat S. Moringa oleifera extract as a natural plant biostimulant. J Plant Growth Regul. 2023;42(3):1291-306. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00344-022-10630-4
  36. 36. Mehmood N, Saeed M, Zafarullah S, Hyder S, Rizvi ZF, Gondal AS, et al. Multifaceted impacts of plant-beneficial Pseudomonas spp. in managing various plant diseases and crop yield improvement. ACS Omega. 2023;8(25):22296-315. https://doi.org/10.1021/acsomega.3c00870
  37. 37. Ma J, Gao C, Lin M, Sun Z, Zhao Y, Li X, et al. Control of Fusarium head blight of wheat with Bacillus velezensis E2 and potential mechanisms of action. J Fungi. 2024;10(6):390. https://doi.org/10.3390/jof10060390
  38. 38. Singh M, Srivastava M, Kumar A, Singh A, Pandey K. Endophytic bacteria in plant disease management. In: Kumar A, Singh VK, editors. Microbial endophytes: Prospects for sustainable agriculture. Cambridge: Elsevier; 2020. p. 61–89 https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-818734-0.00004-8
  39. 39. Omomowo IO, Amao JA, Abubakar A, Ogundola AF, Ezediuno LO, Bamigboye CO. A review on the trends of endophytic fungi bioactivities. Sci Afr. 2023;20:e01594. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sciaf.2023.e01594
  40. 40. Forrer HR, Musa T, Schwab F, Jenny E, Bucheli TD, Wettstein FE, et al. Fusarium head blight control and prevention of mycotoxin contamination in wheat with botanicals and tannic acid. Toxins (Basel). 2014;6(3):830-49. https://doi.org/10.3390/toxins6030830
  41. 41. Dilshad M, Gupta C. Inhibition of plant pathogens by Parthenium hysterophorus: An investigation into antimicrobial properties. Mathews J Nutr Diet. 2023;6(3):28. https://doi.org/10.30654/MJND.10028
  42. 42. Kumar R, Kumar M, Srivastava S, Singh R, Sharma I. Role of Parthenium hysterophorus in human health, agriculture and sustainability of ecosystem. Bio-Sci Res Bull. 2023;39(1):7-12.
  43. 43. Sowmya Vani M, Kumar S, Gulya R. In vitro evaluation of fungicides and plant extracts against Fusarium oxysporum causing wilt of mungbean. J Pharm Innov. 2019;8(8):297-302.
  44. 44. Javed S, Bashir U. Antifungal activity of different extracts of Ageratum conyzoides for the management of Fusarium solani. African J Biotechnol. 2012;11(49):11022-9. https://doi.org/10.5897/AJB12.366
  45. 45. Sukrasno S. Plant secondary metabolites for antifusarium and antiphytophthora. In: Fusarium - Plant diseases, pathogen diversity, genetic diversity, resistance and molecular markers. London: IntechOpen; 2018. p. 65–77 https://doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.71552
  46. 46. Razavi SM. Plant coumarins as allelopathic agents. Int J Biol Chem. 2011;5(1):86-90. https://doi.org/10.3923/ijbc.2011.86.90
  47. 47. Matos MJ, Santana L, Uriarte E, Abreu OA, Molina E, Yordi EG. Coumarins: an important class of phytochemicals. In: Phytochemicals - Isolation, characterisation and role in human health. London: IntechOpen; 2015. p. 113–40 https://doi.org/10.5772/59982
  48. 48. Hazirah MN, Hamizah O, Natasya WW. Antifungal activity of Ageratum conyzoides extract against Fusarium oxysporum in Musa spp. In: Proceedings of the 5th International Conference on Sustainable Agriculture and Environment; 2023 Mar 22–24; Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Bristol (UK): IOP Publishing; 2023. IOP Conf Ser: Earth Environ Sci. 2023;1182(1):012074. https://doi.org/10.1088/1755-1315/1182/1/012074
  49. 49. Chahal R, Nanda A, Akkol EK, Sobarzo-Sánchez E, Arya A, Kaushik D, et al. Ageratum conyzoides L. and its secondary metabolites in the management of different fungal pathogens. Molecules. 2021;26(10):2933. https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules26102933
  50. 50. Kumar R, Singh JP, Rana M, Srivastava S. Antifungal potential of allelopathic plant extracts of Ageratum conyzoides L. and Parthenium hysterophorus L. on Phytophthora blight of Capsicum annuum L. Allelopathy J. 2024;63(2):223-38. https://doi.org/10.26651/allelo.j/2024-63-2-1512
  51. 51. Kotta JC, Lestari ABS, Candrasari DS, Hariono M. Medicinal effect, in silico bioactivity prediction and pharmaceutical formulation of Ageratum conyzoides L.: A review. Scientifica (Cairo). 2020;2020:6420909. https://doi.org/10.1155/2020/6420909
  52. 52. Ferdosi MFH, Javaid A, Khan IH, Fardosi MFA, Munir A. Bioactive components in methanolic flower extract of Ageratum conyzoides. Pak J Weed Sci Res. 2021;27(2):181-90. https://doi.org/10.28941/pjwsr.v27i2.954
  53. 53. Nguyen CC, Nguyen TQC, Kanaori K, Binh TD, Dao XHT, Vang LV, et al. Antifungal activities of Ageratum conyzoides L. extract against rice pathogens Pyricularia oryzae Cavara and Rhizoctonia solani Kühn. Agriculture. 2021;11(11):1169. https://doi.org/10.3390/agriculture11111169
  54. 54. Banaras S, Javaid A, Khan IH. Bioassays guided fractionation of Ageratum conyzoides extract for the identification of natural antifungal compounds against Macrophomina phaseolina. IJAB. 2021;25(4):761-7. https://doi.org/10.17957/IJAB/15.1727
  55. 55. Bashar HMK, Juraimi AS, Ahmad-Hamdani MS, Uddin MK, Asib N, Anwar MP, et al. Evaluation of allelopathic effects of Parthenium hysterophorus L. methanolic extracts on some selected plants and weeds. PLoS One. 2023;18(1):e0280159. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0280159
  56. 56. Ghavam M, Bacchetta G, Castangia I, Manca ML. Evaluation of the composition and antimicrobial activities of essential oils from four species of Lamiaceae native to Iran. Sci Report. 2022;12(1):17044. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-21509-5
  57. 57. Getahun M, Nesru Y, Ahmed M, Satapathy S, Shenkute K, Gupta N, et al. Phytochemical composition, antioxidant, antimicrobial, antibiofilm and antiquorum sensing potential of methanol extract and essential oil from Acanthus polystachyus Delile (Acanthaceae). ACS Omega. 2023;8(45):43024-36. https://doi.org/10.1021/acsomega.3c06246
  58. 58. Eevers N, Gielen M, Sánchez-López A, Jaspers S, White JC, Vangronsveld J, et al. Optimization of isolation and cultivation of bacterial endophytes through addition of plant extract to nutrient media. Microbial Biotechnology. 2015;8(4):707-15. https://doi.org/10.1111/1751-7915.12291
  59. 59. Fontana DC, de Paula S, Torres AG, de Souza VHM, Pascholati SF, Schmidt D, et al. Endophytic fungi: biological control and induced resistance to phytopathogens and abiotic stresses. Pathogens. 2021;10(5):570. https://doi.org/10.3390/pathogens10050570

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.