MYCOPATH, Vol 1, No 1 (2003)

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Antifungal Activity of Allelopathic Plant Extracts III. Growth response of some pathogenic fungi to aqueous extract of Parthenium hysterophorus

Rukhsana Bajwa and Afia Khalid

Abstract


The present investigations were designed to evaluate the potential of aqueous extracts of allelopathic weed, Parthenium hysterophorus, against three pathogenic fungi viz., Drechslera tetramera, Aspergillus niger and Phoma glomerata. The test fungal species were grown in 100 ml liquid malt extract medium containing 20 ml of each of 0, 10, 20, 30, 50, 60 and 70 % w/v shoot extract of Parthenium hysterophorus. Fungal growth was monitored periodically after 5, 10 and 15 days of incubation. A highly contrasting response was exhibited by the test pathogens to employed extract treatments. The lower concentrations of 10, 20 and 30% extract exhibited antifungal activity resulting in a pronounced decrease in fungal biomass production. The response to extract was species-specific. Drechslera tetramera was the most susceptible while Phoma glomerata was found to be least susceptible to the applied aqueous extracts. The higher concentrations of 50, 60 and 70 % extract markedly enhanced the fungal biomass production at all the harvest intervals. 

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