ANTIFUNGAL ACTIVITY OF BERGENIN, A CONSTITUENT OF FLUEGGEA-MICROCARPA

The antifungal activity of bergenin against some plant pathogenic fung i, namely, Alternaria alternata, A. brassicae, A. carthami, Fusarium u dum, F. oxysporum f.sp. ciceri, Curvularia lunata and Erysiphe pisi, w as studied. Bergenin as its monosodium salt was effective against all the fungi and the effective dose for complete inhibition of spore germ ination varied from 15 mu g mL(-1) far F. undum to 125 mu g mL(-1) for E. pisi, Experiments on the effect, of bergenin on powdery mildew dev elopment under glasshouse conditions revealed that it can control powd ery mildew of pea at 2000 mu g mL(-1) by postinoculation treatment, th e results being comparable with those of carbendazim (1000 mu g mL(-1) ) and wettable sulfur (2000 mu g mL(-1)). It affected hyphal elongatio n and the number of primary and secondary branches.