title: Suppression of Fusarium wilt of cucumber by ammonia gas fumigation via reduction of Fusarium population in the field.
abstract: Cucumber plants subjected to consecutive monoculture for 9 years were found to suffer from severe Fusarium wilt disease, caused by the soil-borne fungus Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. Cucumerinum J. H. Owen. In the present study, greenhouse experiments were performed to evaluate the influence of ammonia gas fumigation on Fusarium wilt suppression, fungal abundance and fungal community composition. Results showed that ammonia gas fumigation remarkably reduced disease incidence from 80% to 27%, resulting in a four-fold increase in yield, compared to the control. Total fungal abundance declined dramatically after fumigation and reached the lowest level at day 32, at 243 times lower than the control. Moreover, fumigation significantly increased soil fungal diversity, though it also decreased considerably coinciding with cucumber growth. Fumigation also significantly altered soil fungal community composition, relative to the control. Fusarium was strongly inhibited by fumigation in both relative abundance (3.8 times lower) and targeted quantification (a decrease of 167 fold). Collectively, the application of ammonia gas fumigation to control Fusarium wilt of cucumber resulted in a re-assembly of the fungal community to resemble that of a non-disease conducive consortium. Additional strategies, such as bioorganic fertilizer application, may still be required to develop sustainable disease suppression following fumigation.
authors.affiliation: School of Agriculture and Biological Engineering, Jinhua Polytechnic, Jinhua, 321007, Zhejiang, China.|Jiangsu Provincial Key Lab for Solid Organic Waste Utilization, Nanjing Agricultural University, 210095, China.
authors.forename: Jun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.affiliation: School of Agriculture and Biological Engineering, Jinhua Polytechnic, Jinhua, 321007, Zhejiang, China.
authors.forename: Zhong
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Mei
authors.affiliation: Jiangsu Provincial Key Lab for Solid Organic Waste Utilization, Nanjing Agricultural University, 210095, China.
authors.forename: Xu
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Jiangsu Provincial Key Lab for Solid Organic Waste Utilization, Nanjing Agricultural University, 210095, China.
authors.forename: Chao
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Xue
authors.affiliation: Jiangsu Provincial Key Lab for Solid Organic Waste Utilization, Nanjing Agricultural University, 210095, China.
authors.forename: Chenzhi
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Jiangsu Provincial Key Lab for Solid Organic Waste Utilization, Nanjing Agricultural University, 210095, China.
authors.forename: Tengfei
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ma
authors.affiliation: School of Agriculture and Biological Engineering, Jinhua Polytechnic, Jinhua, 321007, Zhejiang, China.
authors.forename: Shusheng
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Zhang
mesh_terms: D000641:Ammonia / Q000494:pharmacology*; D000935:Antifungal Agents / Q000494:pharmacology*; D058448:Biota / Q000187:drug effects; D015169:Colony Count, Microbial; D018553:Cucumis sativus / Q000382:microbiology*; D005651:Fumigation / Q000379:methods*; D005670:Fusarium / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000254:growth & development* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D010935:Plant Diseases / Q000517:prevention & control*; D012988:Soil Microbiology
chemical_list: D000935:Antifungal Agents; D000641:Ammonia