Ampelomyces quisqualis for biological and integrated control of powdery mildews in Israel.
Sztejnberg A., Galper S., Mazar S., Lisker N.
Author Affiliation: Dep. Pl. Path. Microbiol., Hebrew Univ. Jerusalem, Rehovot 76100, Israel.
Journal of Phytopathology 124 : 285-295
Abstract : An isolate of A. quisqualis obtained from an Oidium sp. infecting Catha edulis in Israel was found to parasitize several powdery mildew fungi of the genera Oidium, Erysiphe, Sphaerotheca, Podosphaera, Uncinula and Leveillula. A. quisqualis was tolerant of many fungicides used to control powdery mildews and/or other plant diseases and its hyperparasitic activity was unaffected. In field and greenhouse trials, A. quisqualis parasitized S. fuliginea on cucumber, Oidium sp. on carrot and O. mangiferae on mango and reduced disease incidence. This first report of hyperparasitism of O. mangiferae is supported by SEM observations. In one experiment, treating S. fuliginea on cucumber with spores of A. quisqualis significantly (P0.05) reduced disease severity and increased cucumber yields by c. 50%. However, a greater yield increase was obtained by treatment with pyrazophos alone or in combination with the hyperparasite. In a second experiment, all treatments gave similar yield increases over untreated controls.