The fungal genus Paecilomyces comprises numerous pathogenic and saprobic species, which are regularly isolated from insects, nematodes, soil, air, food, paper and many other materials. Some of the Paecilomyces species have been known to exhibit capabilities for curing human diseases. Here, bioactivities of metabolites from some soil inhabitant and invertebrate pathogenic Paecilomyces species we...

Abstract Pathogenic fungi are a leading cause of crop disease and primarily spread through microscopic, durable spores adapted differentially for both persistence dispersal via soil, animals, water, and/or the atmosphere. Computational Earth system models air pollution have been used to simulate atmospheric spore transport aerial-dispersal-adapted (airborne) rust diseases, but importance soil-d...

Numerous microbes are antagonistic to plant-parasitic nematodes and soilborne plant-pathogenic fungi, but few of these organisms are commercially available for management of these pathogens. Inconsistent performance of applied biocontrol agents has proven to be a primary obstacle to the development of successful commercial products. One of the strategies for overcoming inconsistent performance ...

The efficacy of clean fallow, bermudagrass (Cynodon dactylon) as a rotational crop, and fenamiphos for control of root-knot nematode (Meloidogyne incognita race 1) and soilborne fungi in okra (Hibiscus esculentus), snapbean (Phaseolus vulgaris), and pepper (Capsicum annuum) production was evaluated in field tests from 1993 to 1995. Numbers of M. incognita in the soil and root-gall indices were ...

Plant tissue colonization by Trichoderma atroviride plays a critical role in the reduction of diseases caused by phytopathogenic fungi, but this process has not been thoroughly studied in situ. We monitored in situ interactions between gfp-tagged biocontrol strains of T. atroviride and soilborne plant pathogens that were grown in cocultures and on cucumber seeds by confocal scanning laser micro...

In the dryland Pacific Northwest wheat cropping systems, no-till is becoming more prevalent as a way to reduce soil erosion and fuel inputs. Tillage can have a profound effect on microbial communities and soilborne fungal pathogens, such as Rhizoctonia. We compared the fungal communities in long-term no-till (NT) plots adjacent to conventionally tilled (CT) plots, over three years at two locati...

Unicellular saprobic fungi (yeasts) inhabit soils worldwide. Although yeast species typically occupy defined areas on the biome scale, their distribution patterns within a single type of vegetation, such as forests, are more complex. In order to understand factors that shape soil yeast communities, soils collected underneath decaying wood logs and under forest litter were analyzed. We isolated ...

Trichoderma virens (synonym, Gliocladium virens), a deuteromycete fungus, suppresses soilborne plant diseases caused by a number of fungi and is used as a biocontrol agent. Several traits that may contribute to the antagonistic interactions of T. virens with disease-causing fungi involve the production of peptide metabolites (e.g., the antibiotic gliotoxin and siderophores used for iron acquisi...

Investigations of the diversity of bacterial communities associated with fieldcollected specimens of two insect biological control agents of spotted knapweed, Agapeta zoegana and Cyphocleonus achates, were made using molecular methods. The objective was to assess the bacterial communities of each insect to evaluate the potential compatibility of plant pathogenic fungi as a supplement to insect ...