Paweer Marial Makur Zechariah, Namikoye Everlyne Samita, Nchore Shem Bonuke, Akutse Komivi Senyo
International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology (icipe), Nairobi, Kenya.
Department of Agricultural Science and Technology, Kenyatta University, Nairobi, Kenya.
Front Cell Infect Microbiol. 2025 Feb 4;15:1470821. doi: 10.3389/fcimb.2025.1470821. eCollection 2025.
Field trials were conducted for two seasons in two experimental sites (Mwea in Kirinyaga and Ngoliba in Kiambu counties of Kenya) to assess the efficacy of fungal endophytes F3ST1 and M2RT4 in the control of vector of tomato infectious chlorosis virus (TICV) and tomato chlorosis virus (ToCV) through seeds inoculation. TICV and ToCV's disease incidence, severity and the yield were also evaluated. All the fungal endophytes successfully colonized all the tomato plant parts, but the highest root colonization was observed in F3ST1 compared to the M2RT4 in both seasons. The number of nymphs was significantly lower in the endophytically colonized tomato plants than the control treatments in all the seasons and at both sites. However, the lowest number of nymphs was recorded in F3ST1 compared to M2RT4. On the other hand, the TICV and ToCV disease incidence and severity rates were lower in endophytically colonized tomato crops compared to the control plots. This could be attributed to the reduction in the virus replication and lower feeding ability of that was characterized by less excretion of honeydew causing sooty mold. However, no significant difference was observed in ToCV disease severity rates among the treatments and across the seasons. The yield was significantly higher in endophyte plots than the control treatments in both sites and across the two seasons. This study demonstrates that F3ST1 and M2RT4 endophytically colonized tomato plants and conferred systemic resistance against vector, and significantly reduced the transmission of TICV and ToCV, contributing to high reduction of both diseases' incidence and severity in the field. However, further studies are warranted to confirm these results at large scale trials.
在肯尼亚基里尼亚加县的姆韦亚和基安布县的恩戈利巴这两个试验地点进行了两个季节的田间试验，以评估真菌内生菌F3ST1和M2RT4通过种子接种对番茄传染性褪绿病毒（TICV）和番茄褪绿病毒（ToCV）的传毒介体的防治效果。还评估了TICV和ToCV的发病率、病情严重程度及产量。所有真菌内生菌均成功定殖于番茄植株的所有部位，但在两个季节中，与M2RT4相比，F3ST1在根部的定殖率最高。在所有季节和两个试验地点，内生菌定殖的番茄植株上若虫的数量均显著低于对照处理。然而，与M2RT4相比，F3ST1上记录到的若虫数量最少。另一方面，内生菌定殖的番茄作物中TICV和ToCV的发病率和病情严重程度低于对照地块。这可能归因于病毒复制减少以及传毒介体取食能力降低，其特征是蜜露分泌减少，导致煤烟病发生。然而，各处理间以及不同季节间ToCV的病情严重程度未观察到显著差异。在两个试验地点以及两个季节中，内生菌处理地块的产量均显著高于对照处理。本研究表明，F3ST1和M2RT4可内生定殖于番茄植株并赋予其对传毒介体的系统抗性，显著减少TICV和ToCV的传播，有助于在田间大幅降低这两种病害的发病率和病情严重程度。然而，需要进一步开展研究以在大规模试验中证实这些结果。
