Changes in morphology and growth rate of Fusarium solani colonies exposed to volatile compounds synthesized by wood-rotting basidiomycetes

Abstract

This study aims to determine the effects of the volatile metabolites synthesized by 53 species of wood-rotting basidiomycetes on the morphology and growth rate of Fusarium solani colonies. The fungi were cultivated in bi-compartmented Petri dishes. For every combination 4 different plates were prepared as well as a control Petri dish containing only Fusarium solani. The species were cultivated on PFMEA (potato flakes malt extract agar) and kept for 5 days at 25°C and further, the test plates were compared with the control, regarding the general aspect of Fusarium solani colony, pigmentation and differences in growth rate. The observations revealed that the volatiles synthesized by 42 species of wood-rotting basidiomycetes evidently influenced the development of the phytopathogenic species. The volatiles of Neofavolus alveolaris inhibited the most the growth of Fusarium solani. The GC-MS analysis of the volatile profile of Neofavolus alveolaris revealed the presence of compounds such as: 3-methyl-3-buten-1-ol, 2-methyl-1-butanol, 2-methyl-1-propanol, 3-methyl-1-butanol, 1-octen-3-ol and benzaldehyde.

Keywords

• Fusarium solani
• growth inhibition
• morphological changes
• volatile metabolites
• wood-rotting basidiomycetes