Rapid extracellular enzyme assays for screening potential antisapstain biological control agents

A Rapid Agar Plate Screening Assay (RAPSA) was developed and optimized for assaying individual extracellular enzymes produced by potential biological control agents and sapstain fungi. The RAPSA, which uses culture filtrates rather than agar plugs inoculated with actively growing fungi as used in th e classical screening method, was more sensitive in detecting activity, for all extracellular enzymes screened, with the exception of chitinase. for t he majority of the fungi tested. The assay was used to screen potential bio logical control fungi based on comparison of extracellular enzyme profiles of ten potential antisapstain biological control fungi and three sapstain f ungi, grown in liquid cultures containing either glucose, hemlock sawdust. or cell wall of the sapstain fungus Ophiostoma piceae as a carbon source. B ased on extracellular enzymes profiles, biological control fungi and sapsta in fungi were classified into three groups. Group I fungi produced the grea test enzyme activity when glucose was included in the medium. Group II fung i produced equally good activity with sawdust and glucose, while Group III produced high activity with both sawdust and cell wall while enzyme activit y with glucose was not consistent. Five biological control candidates. Gliocladium viride 623E, G. roseum 784A . G. virens 258C. G. roseum 321M. G. virens 258D. in descending order, demo nstrated the full spectrum of extracellular enzyme activity screened, irres pective of the growth medium. Production of extracellular enzymes in a mini mal medium augmented with sawdust or cell wall is an indicator of secondary resource capability. Gliocladium viride 623E and G. virens 258C demonstrat ed high extracellular enzyme production in both of these media. On this bas is. these two fungi were judged to show the greatest potential as biologica l control agents. Mariannea elegans 386E and G. solani 810A showed the leas t potential.