Use of phylloplane fungi as biocontrol agent against Colletotrichum leaf disease of rubber (Hevea brasiliensis Muell. Arg.)

Phylloplane fungi were used as biocontrol agent against Colletotrichum leaf disease of rubber (Hevea brasiliensis Muell. Arg.). Aspergillus sp. lysed the cytoplasm of Colletotrichum gloeosporioides on Potato Dextrose Agar. Trichophyton sp. and Gliocladium sp. antagonised C. gloeosporioides by overgrowing on it. Other phylloplanes used in this study such as Botrytis sp., Pleurothecium sp. and Staphylotrichum sp. exhibited weak antagonism on the pathogen while Gonatorrhodiella sp. and Syncephalastrum sp. showed different levels of zones of inhibition with the pathogen. Metabolites produced by Gonatorrhodiella sp. and Syncephalastrum sp. affected the pathogen by antibiosis. This finding showed that Trichocladium sp. and Trichophyton sp. exhibited the highest antagonistic effects on C. gloeosporioides.