Influence of organic soil amendments on <i>Verticillium dahliae</i> and on the microbial composition of the strawberry rhizosphere

Abstract

SUMMARY A technique was developed for assessing the saprophytic activity of Verticillium dahliae , using a strawberry root extract medium. The germination of conidia and microsclerotia, and mycelial growth in soil, was inhibited by the addition of chitin, laminarin, wheat straw and oven‐dried green clover as soil amendments. A significant decrease in the number of viable propagules of the pathogen counted from soil, and in disease severity, was obtained with chitin and laminarin. More bacteria and actinomycetes were recorded from the rhizosphere of plants grown in chitin‐amended soil than from those in natural soil.