Isolation of Trichoderma in the rhizosphere soil of Syringa oblata from Harbin and their biocontrol and growth promotion function

For the effective biocontrol of Syringa powdery mildew (Mircosphaera syringejaponicae) and to promote seedling growth, we identified 44 of the 181 Trichoderma isolates (T1-T181) isolated from the rhizosphere soil. Analysis identified 10 Trichoderma species, and T. pseudoharzianum T1 (TpseT1), T. afroharzianum T52 (TafrT52), and T. asperelloides T57 (TaspT57) were selected to make Trichoderma biofertilizer because of their fast growth and high spore production. Exposing Syringa oblata to Trichoderma biofertilizer showed that TafrT52 and TaspT57 could induce abscisic acid (ABA) production, and promote the shedding of diseased leaves and the generation of new leaves. Furthermore, TafrT52 increased the catalase (CAT) activity and reduced the H2O2 content. And the disease incidence was reduced by 37.84 % by Tasp (highest) in 2017 year and by 13.84 % by TpseT1(lowest) in 2018 year. In addition, all Trichoderma strains we selected could promote the lateral root growth of S. oblata seedlings; however, because of the downregulated gene expression at the late stage of chlorophyll synthesis, the chlorophyll content decreased in the new leaves. Antagonism among different Trichoderma species led to low biocontrol and growth promotion effects, thus the Trichoderma mixture cannot be use as biofertilizer. TafrT52, with better biocontrol and growth promotion effects, could be used for biocontrol of M. syringejaponicae.