Dried mushrooms protect cotton from pathogenic fungi

Penicillium chrysogenum (PEN) is a type of mold used in pharmaceutical production. Its dried filamentous fungus is a waste product of penicillin production and is also effective in controlling fungal diseases in plants.

Penicillium chrysogenum is a type of mold
(Photo: sci.muni)

In order to understand its impact on cotton, Mr. Hezhong Dong and colleagues from the Cotton Research Center of Shandong Institute of Agricultural Sciences in China applied the field and showed 'dry mushroom mycelium. of Penicillium chrysogenum (PEN) can protect cotton plants against wilt and increase yield ' . Their article is published in the recent issue of the Plant Protection magazine.

Cotton is an important cash crop in the world and in China the cotton growing area per year is over 4 million hectares. Cotton plants often suffer from a variety of pathogens caused by fungi, which significantly reduce yields, the most significant of which is caused by Fusarium wilt and Verticillium.

In their experiments, the researchers renovated the field with DM, cotton on it and monitored levels of Fusarium and Verticillium wilt caused during the period from 2001 to 2004.

The results of the monitoring during 2001-2002 showed that the high dose of DM was effective in protecting plants against pathogens, while the results in the period 2003-2004 showed that although enterprises had can still control the disease but its effectiveness depends on the application rate. Fiber production is also increasing, due to the control of both diseases and the impact of DM on nutritional aspects.