Phosphate-Solubilizing Bacteria Isolated from Phosphate Solid Sludge and Their Ability to Solubilize Three Inorganic Phosphate Forms: Calcium, Iron, and Aluminum Phosphates.

Biofertilizers are a key component of organic agriculture. Bacterial biofertilizers enhance plant growth through a variety of mechanisms, including soil compound mobilization and phosphate solubilizing bacteria (PSB), which convert insoluble phosphorus to plant-available forms. This specificity of PSB allows them to be used as biofertilizers in order to increase P availability, which is an immobile element in the soil. The objective of our study is to assess the capacity of PSB strains isolated from phosphate solid sludge to solubilize three forms of inorganic phosphates: tricalcium phosphate (Ca3(PO4)2), aluminum phosphate (AlPO4), and iron phosphate (FePO4), in order to select efficient solubilization strains and use them as biofertilizers in any type of soil, either acidic or calcareous soil. Nine strains were selected and they were evaluated for their ability to dissolve phosphate in the National Botanical Research Institute's Phosphate (NBRIP) medium with each form of phosphate (Ca3(PO4)2, AlPO4, and FePO4) as the sole source of phosphorus. The phosphate solubilizing activity was assessed by the vanadate-molybdate method. All the strains tested showed significantly (p ≤ 0.05) the ability to solubilize the three different forms of phosphates, with a variation between strains, and all strains solubilized Ca3(PO4)2 more than FePO4 and AlPO4.

Genetic Diversity and Population Structure of Moroccan Isolates Belong to Alternaria spp. Causing Black Rot and Brown Spot in Citrus.

Alternaria alternata is one of the most important fungi causing various diseases on citrus worldwide. In Morocco, Alternaria black rot (ABR) and Alternaria brown spot (ABS) are two major diseases causing serious losses in commercial cultivars of citrus. The aim of the present work was to study the genetic diversity and the population structure of isolates belonging to sect. Alternaria obtained from infected citrus fruits, collected from seven provinces at different locations in Morocco (markets, packinghouses, and orchards). Forty-five isolates were analyzed by sequence-related amplified polymorphism (SRAP) markers, and cluster analysis of DNA fragments was performed using UPGMA method and Jaccard coefficient. Cluster analysis revealed that isolates were classified in four distinct groups. AMOVA revealed also a large extent of variation within sect. Alternaria isolates (99%). The results demonstrate that no correlation was found among SRAP pattern, host, and geographical origin of these isolates. Population structure analyses showed that the Alternaria isolates from the same collection origin had almost a similar level of admixture.

Complete mitochondrial genome and phylogeny of the causal agent of Bayoud disease on date palm, Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. albedinis.

The complete mitogenome of Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. albedinis (FOA), the causal agent of the destructive fusarium wilt in date palm, is sequenced and assembled. The circular mitogenome of isolate Foa44 is 51,601 bp in length and contains 26 transfer RNA (tRNA) genes, one ribosomal RNA (rRNA), and 28 protein-coding genes. A mitogenome-based phylogenetic analysis of Fusarium revealed that FOA is congruent with previous nuclear-gene phylogenetic results.

Draft Genome Sequence of Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. albedinis Strain Foa 133, the Causal Agent of Bayoud Disease on Date Palm.

Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. albedinis is the causal agent of vascular wilt of date palm. Here, we report the genome assembly of the Foa 133 strain, which consists of 3,325 contigs with a total length of 56,228,901 bp, a GC content of 47.42%, an N 50 value of 131,587 bp, and 3,684 predicted genes.

The Ability of the Antagonist Yeast Pichia Guilliermondii Strain Z1 to Suppress Green Mould Infection in Citrus Fruit.

In previous studies it was shown that Pichia guilliermondii strain Z1, isolated from healthy Moroccan citrus Valencia-Late oranges, was effective against Penicillium italicum. Here the effectiveness of strain Z1 was assessed against Penicillium digitatum, the causal agent of green mould, under different temperature (5-25°C) and relative humidity (RH) (45-100%) regimes for its reliable and large-scale application in packinghouse. All main effects and interactions were significant (P<0.0001). In the pathogen control, the largest lesion diameter was at an RH range between 98 and 100%, regardless of the incubation temperature. The efficacy of strain Z1 was not dependent on the environment and reduced disease incidence by >80%. Its applications as a formulated product significantly reduced the incidence of infected fruit (55%) and the percentage of infected wounds (47%) compared to the only pathogen control treatment. However, disease control with formulated product was significantly less than that obtained with thiabendazole (30%) or strain Z1 culturable cells (35%). These results highlight that strain Z1 is an effective biological control agent for control of green mould under varying environmental conditions, and control may be optimized by combining its use with other environmentally-safe post-harvest treatments or improved formulation.