Acta Agronomica Hungarica (2001) 49, 243-250

C.I. Monaco, A.I. Nico, H. Alippi and I. Mittidieri (2001)
Saprophytic fungi on tomato phylloplane: Effect of fungicides and leaf position on abundance, composition and diversity
Acta Agronomica Hungarica 49 (3), 243-250
Abstract: Fungal isolations were made from leaves of tomato plants cultivated in greenhouses in an area close to La Plata, Argentina. Three different schemes of fungicide application were evaluated: high frequency preventive sprayings (Commercial Greenhouse I), low frequency preventive applications (Commercial Greenhouse II) and no fungicide spraying (Control Greenhouse). Leaves were sampled immediately after second fruit formation from three levels of the foliage: low, medium and high. Plating dilution was used to isolate fungal species. Total c.f.u. number and species composition and diversity were assessed by the plating dilution technique. Fungal populations were most abundant on leaves from lower parts of the foliage in the Control Greenhouse. Diversity varied according to fungicide application frequency and leaf position in the canopy. Higher values were recorded for lower leaves in the Control Greenhouse compared with upper leaves from Commercial Greenhouse II. Likewise position in the canopy influenced the frequency of some species. The implications for natural biological control are discussed.
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Link to article at publishers website
Database assignments for author(s): Andrés I. Nico

Research topic(s) for pests/diseases/weeds:
environment - cropping system/rotation
Research topic(s) for beneficials or antagonists:
environment/habitat manipulation

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Pest and/or beneficial records:

Beneficial	Pest/Disease/Weed	Crop/Product	Country	Quarant.
	Alternaria alternata	Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum)	Argentina
	Cladosporium cladosporioides		Argentina
	Stemphylium botryosum		Argentina
Trichoderma harzianum (antagonist)
Chaetomium globosum (antagonist)			Argentina
Trichoderma polysporum (antagonist)
Epicoccum nigrum (antagonist)			Argentina