Assessment of the biocontrol potential of a Trichoderma viride isolate - Part II: Protection against soft rot and basidiomycete decay

A previous paper reported on the establishment of a field and fungal cellar trial set up to determine the biocontrol potential of a specific Trichoder ma isolate against wood decay fungi. This paper reports on the analyses use d to examine the protective effect of the selected isolate, and presents re sults indicating an initial protective effect against both basidiomycetes a nd soft rot fungi. The parameters assessed in the field and fungal cellar t rials were soft rot decay, basidiomycete decay, Trichoderma colonisation, m oisture content and nitrogen content. The results of these analyses show th at the introduction of a biological control agent has had a significant eff ect on moisture content, decay and nitrogen content. A protective effect ha s been observed against soft rot and basidiomycete decay fungi in field sam ples. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.