Linderman R.G. et al. 1994a

• Authors: Linderman RG, Marlow JL, Blackburn B, McDaniel HW
• Title: Evaluation of bacterial antogonists against Phytophthora cinnamomi in the closed-insulated pallet system (CIPS)
• Location: Phytopathology 84 (10), 1137 (1994).
• Abstract: A closed-insulated pallet system (CIPS), which provides constant temperature, moisture, and nutritional conditions, was used to grow snapdragon plants as a host for the evaluation of candidate bacteria as biocontrol agents against the root rot pathogen, Phytophthora cinnamomi. Test plants were inoculated with candidate bacterial antagonists 2 weeks before transplant into potting mix containing P. cinnamomi inoculum. Plants in containers in the CIPS were watered by capillarity from the pallet reservoir, and fertilized by diffusion fron a slow-release source on the medium surface. Root rot and wilt were apparent on snapdragon within 2-3 weeks after transplant. Effective antagonists, providing protection against P. cinnamomi for the 6 week duration of the experiment, were clearly separated from those that did not provide protection on the basis of shoot size an degree of wilt as well as percentage of roots fron which the pathogen could be recovered. The data indicate that snapdragon is highly susceptible to P. cinnamomi, and the CIPS is a valuable, consistent, and reliable system in which to conduct in vivo assays to evaluate biocontrol againts isolated from soil or roots.