Plant growth promotion and management of collar rot of Chickpea (Cicer arietinum) by mycelial protein of Sclerotium rolfsii

Abstract

Investigations on the total protein content of seven isolates of Sclerotium rolfsii and the effect of the total protein of different isolates on growth promotion and management of collar rot disease of chickpea was carried out. Various concentrations (0.07, 0.14, 0.21 and 0.28mg/ml in terms of BSA fraction V equivalents) of fungal protein isolated from BHU-3 isolate, which contained maximum total protein, was sprayed on 20-day-old chickpea (Cicer arietinum) plants. After four days, the sprayed potted plants were inoculated with S. rolfsii and observations were taken on the growth, mortality and phenolic acid content of plants. Among different concentrations of fungal protein, 0.21 and 0.28mg/ml showed maximum efficacy in plant growth promotion. Also, plant mortality was reduced significantly compared to control following treatment of fungal protein. Phenolic acid content of plant leaves after spray of fungal protein increased compared to control. Further, the level of phenolic acids in plants inoculated with S. rolfsii increased, indicating an important role of the fungal protein in inducing resistance in plants. The results suggest a functional role of fungal protein of the isolate BHU-3 in plant growth promotion as well as resistance induction analogous to phytoimmunoproteins responsible for induction of immune response in plants.