Antagonistic potential of Fusarium oxysporum as an endophyte isolated from Horse-chestnut tree in the management of Rhizoctonia solani under in-vitro conditions

Symbiotic relationships are established by endophytic microorganisms with their host, resulting in the provision of diverse advantages, such as protection against plant pathogens. Soil-borne pathogens have become a devastating source of infection in many plant species. The environmentally friendly approaches are scare in managing these soil-borne pathogens. This study was aimed to manage one soil-borne pathogen (Rhizoctonia solani) by employing another fungal endophyte (Fusarium oxysporum) via mean inhibition zone technique. The fungal endophyte was isolated from horse-chestnut tree leaves. The R. solani was extracted from the vegetable’s plants showing typical symptoms of root rot and damping off. Both endophyte and pathogen were grown on suitable culture media. The antagonistic activity of collected endophyte for soil-borne pathogen was checked via mean inhibition zone technique under in-vitro condition. The diversity indices and isolation frequency analysis revealed that this tree specie has versatile endophytic range. The results from the dual culture experiment assessing the antagonistic activity of endophyte against the soil-borne pathogen (R. solani) revealed a significant (P <0.001) impact of the endophyte, evaluation times, and the interaction between endophyte and evaluation times on the size of the pathogen colony. The endophyte exhibited a substantial decrease in pathogen development compared to the control, except between days 11 and 15 after inoculation. The data indicate that F. oxysporum contains endophytic potential, which might be investigated for potential biocontrol agents against other soil-borne diseases.