Suppressiveness in Different Soils for Rhizoctonia solani

Abstract

Rhizoctonia solani is a phytopathogenic fungus which is present in the soil in very low densities but able to cause disease in different plant species because it is a soil saprotroph and a facultative parasite. This species is complex and includes 14 anastomosis groups (AGs) which in turn include each many different subgroups. The former are characterized by the ability of their members to anastomose within a group, while the latter are characterized through various biochemical, nutritional, molecular, or phenotypic traits. To protect the most common crops (potato, wheat, rice and maize) against diseases caused by from poor soil quality and environmental stresses such as climate change, may be necessary increasing genetic diversity the most predominant crops and admit sustainable agriculture. Three fundamental principles are essential to sustainable agriculture: social, environmental and economic sustainability prioritizing use available labor, using natural pesticides and fertilizers, minimizing water usage and tillage, rotating crops yearly for mimic the natural ecological processes for protect the environment for the future. Often a limiting factor in conventional production, crop management may change soil characteristics and so alter incidence of diseases caused by soilborne pathogens. Generally, these diseases are severe and often a limiting factor in conventional production systems, but are rare in undisturbed natural ecosystems. However, agricultural soils suppressive to soilborne plant pathogens occur worldwide; soil suppressiveness could result from biotic and abiotic factors, in a various and intricate set of mechanisms. Since soil becomes suppressive to a target pathogen, the discovery of its main physical, chemical, and biological attributes can be useful for comprehension of the mechanisms of suppressiveness and to discover the information in other areas where the same pathogen is a trouble. Accordingly, it is suggested that indicators for soil health could be found by monitoring responses of the soil microbial community to the application of different stress factors at various intensities.