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. 2024 Oct 3;10(10):691.
doi: 10.3390/jof10100691.

Identification and Biological Characteristics of Alternaria gossypina as a Promising Biocontrol Agent for the Control of Mikania micrantha

Lichen Feng  1 , Lianrong Hu  2 , Jingyi Bo  1 , Mei Ji  2 , Sangzi Ze  3 , Yan'e Ding  1 , Bin Yang  4 , Ning Zhao  1   5
Affiliations

Identification and Biological Characteristics of Alternaria gossypina as a Promising Biocontrol Agent for the Control of Mikania micrantha

Lichen Feng et al. J Fungi (Basel). .

Abstract

Mikania micrantha is one of the most threatening invasive plant species in the world. Its invasion has greatly reduced the species diversity of the invaded areas. The development of fungal herbicides using phytopathogenic fungi has attracted considerable attention in recent years. In this study, a tissue isolation method was used to isolate and screen the strain SWFU-MM002 with strong pathogenicity to M. micrantha leaves from naturally occurring M. micrantha. Through morphological observation, ITS, GAPDH, and Alta-1 gene sequence homology, we compare and construct a phylogenetic tree to determine their taxonomic status. In addition, the biological characteristics of strain SWFU-MM002 were studied. The results showed that, combined with morphological and molecular biology identification, the strain was identified as Alternaria gossypina; biological characteristic research showed that the optimal medium for the growth of mycelium of this strain is PDA medium. At the optimal temperature of 27 °C and pH between 6 and 10, the mycelium can grow well. The best carbon and nitrogen sources are maltose and peptone, respectively. Analysing the infection process under a light microscope showed that SWFU-MM002 mycelia invaded the leaf tissue through stomata and colonized, eventually causing damage to the host. This is the first report of leaf spot of M. micrantha caused by A. gossypina. This study can lay a solid foundation for the development of A. gossypina as a control agent for M. micrantha.

Keywords: Alternaria gossypina; Mikania micrantha; biological characteristics; fungal herbicides.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Symptoms of Alternaria development on leaves of Mikania micrantha. (A) Symptoms on diseased leaves in nature; (B) leaf symptoms after indoor inoculation.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Morphological characteristics of Alternaria isolate SWFU-MM002 on PDA. (A) Colony front on PDA medium; (B) colony reverse on PDA medium; (C–E) spore morphology.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Phylogenetic tree of pathogen based on partial ITS, Alta-1, and gpd gene sequences. The selected isolate in this study is shown in red.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Growth of strain SWFU-MM002 under different media. (A) Colony growth state diagram; (B) culture colony diameter after 7d. Different letters indicate significant differences at p < 0.05 according to ANOVA.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Growth of strain SWFU-MM002 under different pH values. (A) Colony growth state diagram; (B) 7d culture colony diameter. Different letters indicate significant differences at p < 0.05 according to ANOVA.
Figure 6
Figure 6
Growth of strain SWFU-MM002 under different temperatures. (A) Colony growth state diagram; (B) 7d culture colony diameter. Different letters indicate significant differences at p < 0.05 according to ANOVA.
Figure 7
Figure 7
Growth of strain SWFU-MM002 under different carbon sources. (A) Colony growth state diagram; (B) 7d culture colony diameter. Different letters indicate significant differences at p < 0.05 according to ANOVA.
Figure 8
Figure 8
Growth of strain SWFU-MM002 under different nitrogen sources. (A) Colony growth state diagram; (B) 7d culture colony diameter. Different letters indicate significant differences at p < 0.05 according to ANOVA.
Figure 9
Figure 9
Growth of strain SWFU-MM002 under different light conditions. (A) Colony growth state diagram; (B) 7d culture colony diameter. ns = not significant.
Figure 10
Figure 10
Microscopic observation of the infection process of strain SWFU-MM002. (A–F) The status of leaves 6 h, 12 h, 24 h, 48 h, 72 h and 96 h after inoculation, respectively. H: mycelia; SC: secondary conidia.
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