Prolonged compost curing reduces suppression of Sclerotium rolfsii

Michael Danon, Sharon Zmora-Nahum, Yona Chen, Yitzhak Hadar*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

40 Scopus citations

Abstract

Composts have long been recognized to facilitate biological control of soil borne plant pathogens. Composts can introduce biocontrol agents into growth media and serve as a food base for their establishment and activity. Mature biosolids compost (a blend of sewage sludge and yard waste) was found to be suppressive to germination of the sclerotia of S. rolfsii on compost plates and also suppresses the disease development in bean plants (Phaseolus vulgaris L.). Microscopic observations revealed that sclerotia placed on suppressive compost were attacked by mycoparasites. However, prolonged curing of compost negated this phenomenon. This research was aimed to study the changes in chemical and biological properties occurring during prolonged curing and their relation to compost suppressiveness. Correlations were found between the decrease and subsequent loss of suppression of sclerotia germination and the decrease in basal respiration, dissolved organic carbon (DOC) and NH4+ concentrations, and the increase in NO3- concentration and specific UV absorbance. A shift of both bacterial and Ascomycetes populations as a consequence of curing was observed. Interactions between micro-organisms and their chemical environment are discussed.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1936-1946
Number of pages11
JournalSoil Biology and Biochemistry
Volume39
Issue number8
DOIs
StatePublished - Aug 2007

Keywords

  • Ammonium
  • Biocontrol
  • Biosolids
  • Crop protection
  • DOC
  • Mycoparasites
  • PCR-DGGE
  • Potting media
  • Suppression
  • SUVA

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