Antagonism of Trichoderma asperellum against Phytophthora megakarya and its potential to promote cacao growth and induce biochemical defence

This work aimed to assess the antagonism effects of four different Trichoderma asperellum isolates against Phytophthora megakarya and their ability to enhance cacao growth and biochemical defence. Results showed that In paired culture, all the isolates of T. asperellum used were antagonistic to P. megakarya by means of mycoparasitism. In pot experiments, leaf number, plant height, shoots and root dry matter were significantly increased by T. asperellum. Similarly, chlorophyll rate, P uptake and acid phosphatase activities were also increased. These antagonists reduced significantly the effects of P. megakarya in the leaves of cacao plants. Amino acid and phenolic components content increased in either healthy or infected leaves from cacao plants inoculated with T. asperellum. There was negative correlation between both phenolic compounds and disease severity and amino acids and disease severity. This suggests that these compounds are involved in disease resistance. In fact, the induction of specific amino acids such as alanine, glutamic acid and methionine may play an important role in the adaptation of cacao plant to P. megakarya infection. These findings demonstrated that Trichoderma asperellum (PR10, PR11, PR12 and PR659-7) could be used to improve the development of cacao plants and protect the plant against Phytophthora megakarya.