Evaluation of the Pleurotin Efficacy Extracted from Pleurotus spp. in Controlling Leaf Spot Disease caused by Alternaria alternata on Broad Bean

Abstract

 This study was conducted at the College of Agriculture, Al-Qasim Green University, to evaluate the efficacy of Pleurotin extracted from Pleurotus spp. mushroom in controlling leaf spot disease caused by Alternaria alternata on broad bean. The results of this study revealed that treatment with Pleurotin induced systemic resistance, which included both peroxidase and chitinase activities. The highest peroxidase and chitinase activities were 3.188 and 2.725 units/mL for the spanish and local bean varieties, respectively, compared to 0.32 and 0.057 units/mL for the turkish variety in the control treatment for these enzymes, respectively. Furthermore, healthy plants treated with pleurotin showed the highest peroxidase and chitinase activities reached 2.931 and 2.604 units/mL, respectively. The treatment with Pleurotin also stimulated the vegetative growth of all tested broad bean varieties, with the highest plant height recorded in the spanish variety, reaching 108.24 cm/plant, compared to 63.77 cm/plant in the turkish variety infected with A. alternata. Moreover, the dry weight of the plants increased to 115.33 g/plant in the healthy plants treated with pleurotin, for the Spanish variety, compared to 45.53 g/plant in the Turkish variety infected with A. alternata. The results indicated a reduction in disease severity for all studied broad bean varieties infected with A. alternata and treated with pleurotin, reached to 24.08, 21.09, and 15.57% for the turkish, local, and spanish varieties, respectively, compared to 78.86, 74.07, and 67.55% for the same respective varieties in the A. alternata control treatment. As a result of the reduced disease severity and stimulated vegetative growth due to the elicitor effect of Pleurotin, this was reflected in the increased plant productivity indices. The highest weight of fresh grains was 221.70 g/plant in the healthy plants treated with pleurotin for the spanish variety, compared to 18.01 g/plant in the turkish variety infected with A. alternata.