Intéret de quelques hyperparasites dans la lutte contre Leveillula taurica et Sphaerotheca fuliginea

Inoculum production and long-term conservation methods for cucurbits and tomato powdery mildews

The behaviour of cucurbit powdery mildews (Podosphaera xanthii and Golovinomyces cichoracearum) and tomato powdery mildew (Oidium neolycopersici) infesting detached cotyledons of Lagenaria leucantha cv. 'Minibottle' was studied in order to develop an easy culture method for pure inoculum production. High spore production was found with a combination of mannitol (0.1 m), sucrose (0.02 m) and agar (8 gl(-1)) in the cotyledon survival medium. Sporulation on cotyledons and viability of conidia were affected by the age of culture for the three species of powdery mildew tested. The age of cotyledons had also an impact of the spore production. This method was used to produce large amounts of inoculum for P. xanthii, G. cichoracearum and O. neolycopersici and enable the development of other species of powdery mildew like Leveillula taurica. Freezing conidia in liquid nitrogen enabled the long-term conservation of P. xanthii without any loss of virulence. The same method was unsuccessful with G. cichoracearum, and L. taurica and partly successful with O. neolycopersici.

A review of fungal antagonists of powdery mildews and their potential as biocontrol agents

There are approximately 40 fungal species that have so far been reported as natural antagonists of powdery mildews or have been tested as their potential biocontrol agents. This review summarizes the published data on their identification, taxonomy, ecology, modes of action and biocontrol efficacy. The results obtained with the two products already registered, AQ10 Biofungicide and Sporodex, are also discussed.