Trichoderma Spp. - Bio Control Of Chickpea Wilt : Molecular variability and Bio-control mechanisms of antagonists

Fusarium wilt caused by Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. ciceris (Padwick) Matuo and K. Sato is one of the most devastating diseases of chickpea causing severe losses. Three Trichoderma isolates each of T. viride, T. harzianum and T. virens were used in the present study to find out the most effective isolate against the pathogen and to characterize the antagonists for further development of strain specific markers. Ranchi isolate of T. viride (T1) inhibited maximum growth in dual culture, whereas Ranchi isolates of T. viride (T6) and T. virens (T9) found most effective through production of volatile compounds in vitro. Culture filtrate of T. harzianum was most inhibitory to the pathogen. Under pot bio-assay studies, Ranhci isolate of T. viride (T1) found superior with higher seed germination, highest shoot and root length of chickpea plants followed by Ranchi isolates of T. harzianum (T7) and T. virens (T9).UPGMA clustering based on PCR-RAPD, grouped all the 10 isolates of Trichoderma spp. into two clusters at 0.20 genetic similarity. All T. viride isolates (except T2) grouped into a distinct cluster with 55% similarity and both T. harzianum isolates were grouped separately with 70%