Stalk rot disease is a major constraint in maize production and till date reported to be caused by two to three species of phytopathogenic fungi but, in our present study, we disclose the first report of stalk rot is caused by complex species of phytopathogens, which belongs to five different genera. Therefore, to substantiate these findings, a total of 105 diseased samples of maize were collected from 21 different locations in six different geographical locations of India from which 48 isolates were used for the research study. Morphological features such as pigmentation, colony color, type of mycelium and pattern of mycelium was examined using macro and microscopic methods. A total of 11 different spp. of pathogens belonging to the five different genera: Fusarium verticillioides (56.25

Rice is the global staple food, contributing over half of the world’s agricultural production. Excessive fungicide use in rice farming poses environmental, fungicide resistance, and beneficial microbial disruption concerns, making biocontrol, particularly bacteria, a promising biocontrol agent due to their rapid growth, ease of handling, and robust colonization attributes. Endophytes are endosymbionts residing within host plants, playing a pivotal role in plant health without inciting any pathogenic effects. In this study, we investigated the antagonistic potential of four characterized bacterial endophytic strains, viz., Bacillus velezensis strains A6 and P42, B. pseudomycoides HP3d and Paenibacillus polymyxa PGSS-1 against major foliar rice pathogens viz., Magnaporthe oryzae and Cochliobolus miyabeanus. Against M. oryzae, all the endophytic strains exhibited significant per cent inhibition (50.00-66.67%) and the highest inhibition of 66.67% was achieved by B. pseudomycoides strain HP3d, while the lowest inhibition of 50 and 51.11% was by B. velezensis strain A6, P42, and P. polymyxa PGSS1, respectively. These endophytes outperformed the positive control, P. fluorescens which showed 44.44% inhibition. Similarly, against C. miyabeanus, 31.25-43.75% inhibition was recorded, of which B. velezensis strain A6 exhibited the highest inhibition (43.75%), while B. velezensis strain P42 showed the lowest (31.25%). Furthermore, a double Petri dish assay was conducted to evaluate the volatile compounds produced by these endophytes against the two rice pathogens. It was observed that the volatile compounds produced by B. pseudomycoides strain HP3d and P. polymyxa strain PGSS1 significantly and effectively inhibited the growth of M. oryzae by 88.89% when compared to P. fluorescens (50.00%), whereas B. velezensis strain A6 showed the lowest inhibition (33.33%). Against the brown spot pathogen, C. miyabeanus, the endophytes demonstrated inhibition ranging from 56.25-87.50%, with B. pseudomycoides strain HP3d and P. fluorescens achieving the highest inhibition (87.50%) and B. velezensis strain P42 showing the lowest (56.25%). These results highlight the significant and varied inhibitory effects of volatile compounds released by these endophytes against fungal pathogens of rice. Overall, our findings highlight the promising biocontrol potential of these endophytic strains under in vitro conditions with B. pseudomycoides strain HP3d and P. polymyxa PGSS1 showing exceptional efficacy and they can be deployed in the field for the management of foliar fungal pathogens in rice.

Red seaweed extracts have been shown to trigger the biotic stress tolerance in several crops. However, reports on transcriptional modifications in plants treated with seaweed biostimulant are limited. To understand the specific response of rice to blast disease in seaweed-biostimulant-primed and non-primed plants, transcriptomics of a susceptible rice cultivar IR-64 was carried out at zero and 48 h post inoculation with Magnaporthe oryzae (strain MG-01). A total of 3498 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified; 1116 DEGs were explicitly regulated in pathogen-inoculated treatments. Functional analysis showed that most DEGs were involved in metabolism, transport, signaling, and defense. In a glass house, artificial inoculation of MG-01 on seaweed-primed plants resulted in the restricted spread of the pathogen leading to the confined blast disease lesions, primarily attributed to reactive oxygen species (ROS) accumulation. The DEGs in the primed plants were defense-related transcription factors, kinases, pathogenesis-related genes, peroxidases, and growth-related genes. The beta-D-xylosidase, a putative gene that helps in secondary cell wall reinforcement, was downregulated in non-primed plants, whereas it upregulated in the primed plants indicating its role in the host defense. Additionally, Phenylalanine ammonia-lyase, pathogenesis-related Bet-v-I family protein, chalcone synthase, chitinases, WRKY, AP2/ERF, and MYB families were upregulated in seaweed and challenge inoculated rice plants. Thus, our study shows that priming rice plants with seaweed bio-stimulants resulted in the induction of the defense in rice against blast disease. This phenomenon is contributed to early protection through ROS, protein kinase, accumulation of secondary metabolites, and cell wall strengthening.

Bacterial soft rot is one of the most devastating diseases and a major constraint encountered during carrot farming. Biological agents are the best eco-friendly alternatives to agrochemicals to manage soft rot disease to ensure environmental sustainability. In this study, about eight isolates of bacterial pathogen causing soft rot in carrots were collected from Karnataka, India. Based on the 16S rRNA sequencing the pathogen isolates causing soft rot of carrot were identified as Klebsiella variicola. The morphological characteristics of K. variicola was investigated under scanning electron microscopy. The pathogenicity assay showed that all eight isolates were pathogenic to the carrot. An in vitro and in planta assay of two novel strains of Bacillus velezensis (A6 and P42) against K. variicola indicated that both strains had strong antagonistic activity against all the pathogen strains. Furthermore, the volatile bioactive compounds produced by A6 and P42 strains were analyzed in GC-MS, which revealed the presence of 10 and 6 bioactive compounds in their culture filtrate, respectively, with antibacterial and antifungal properties. The present study suggests that both A6 and P42 strains of B. velezensis were antagonistic to K. variicola and can be used as biocontrol agents to manage soft rot diseases of carrot under field conditions.

Soft rot disease of carrots is an important limiting factor of carrot production. In this study, carrot roots showing typical soft rot symptoms were identified in the fields, and diseased and healthy root samples were collected for pathogen identification. The pathogen was isolated using an enriched bell pepper method. The bell pepper developed a water-soaked lesion around the pricking region when it was pricked after stabbing the diseased root whereas, no symptoms were produced when bell pepper was pricked after stabbing a healthy carrot root. From samples of the infected roots, circular, whitish, smooth, mucoid, round, convex, and medium-sized colonies were formed on the nutrient agar medium and were morphologically identified as Acinetobacter spp. Pure culture for four isolates was obtained, and one of the isolates (AB1) was further subjected to 16S rDNA sequencing. The BLAST analysis of the 16S rDNA confirmed the identity of AB1 as Acinetobacter baumannii. Pathogenicity test using whole-root assay and slice assay proved AB1 as pathogenic on carrot by producing water-soaked lesion, maceration, and rotting symptoms, whereas water inoculated roots remain healthy. The rotting symptoms on the artificially diseased carrot roots were similar to those caused by Pectobacterium caratovorum and Klebsiella variicola on the carrot. Based on the colony morphology, biochemical tests, and 16S rDNA sequence identity followed by pathogenicity assays, it is evident that A. baumannii causes soft rot disease in carrots. This report is essential for developing specific diagnostics and management against this newly emerging bacterial pathogen of carrot.

Red seaweed-derived biostimulants facilitate plant health and impart protection against abiotic stress conditions by their bioactive compounds and plant nutrients. The potency of red seaweed biostimulants (LBS6 and LBD1) on rice cv. IR-64 in response to fungicides induced stress was investigated in this study. Foliar application of LBS6 maintained the stomatal opening and leaf temperature under the fungicidal stress condition. Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS) such as hydrogen peroxide and superoxide radicals were significantly reduced in LBS6-treated stressed plants. After applying seaweed biostimulants, ROS production was stabilized by antioxidants viz., CAT, APX, SOD, POD, and GR. LBS-6 application increased the Ca+ and K+ levels in the stressed plants, which perhaps interacted with ROS and stomatal opening signalling systems, respectively. In the rice plants, fungicidal stress elevated the expression of stress-responsive transcriptional factors (E2F, HSFA2A, HSFB2B, HSFB4C, HSFC1A, and ZIP12). A decline in the transcript levels of stress-responsive genes was recorded in seaweed treated plants. For the first time, we present an integrative investigation of physicochemical and molecular components to describe the mechanism by which seaweed biostimulants in rice improve plant health under fungicidal stress conditions.

Intensive cropping degrades soil quality and disrupts the soil microbiome. To understand the effect of rice monocropping on soil-microbiome, we used a comparative 16S rRNA metagenome sequencing method to analyze the diversity of soil microflora at the genomic level. Soil samples were obtained from five locations viz., Chamarajnagara, Davangere, Gangavathi, Mandya, and Hassan of Karnataka, India. Chemical analysis of soil samples from these locations revealed significant variations in pH (6.00–8.38), electrical conductivity (0.17–0.69 dS m−1), organic carbon (0.51–1.29%), available nitrogen (279–551 kg ha−1), phosphorous (57–715 kg ha−1) and available potassium (121–564 kg ha−1). The 16S metagenome analysis revealed that the microbial diversity in Gangavathi soil samples was lower than in other locations. The soil sample of Gangavathi showed a higher abundance of Proteobacteria (85.78%) than Mandya (27.18%). The Firmicutes were more abundant in Chamarajnagar samples (36.01%). Furthermore, the KEGG pathway study revealed enriched nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium metabolism pathways in all soil samples. In terms of the distribution of beneficial microflora, the decomposers were more predominant than the nutrient recyclers such as nitrogen fixers, phosphorous mineralizers, and nitrifiers. Furthermore, we isolated culturable soil microbes and tested their antagonistic activity in vitro against a fungal pathogen of rice, Magnaporthe oryzae strain MG01. Six Bacillus sp. and two strains of Trichoderma harzianum showed higher antagonistic activity against MG01. Our findings indicate that metagenome sequencing can be used to investigate the diversity, distribution, and abundance of soil microflora in rice-growing areas. The knowledge gathered can be used to develop strategies for maintaining soil quality and crop conservation to increase crop productivity.

Seaweed extracts contain many bio-elicitors that can greatly improve natural plant immunity, so stimulating plant immunity with these formulations is a sustainable approach. The red seaweed ( Kappaphycus sp. and Eucheuma sp.)–derived biostimulants (LBS6 and LBD1) were tested for their ability to protect rice against fungal blast disease. Compared to non-primed plants, LBD-1 primed and challenged inoculated plants had substantially higher levels of defence-related enzymes such as phenylalanine ammonia lyase, chitinase, peroxidase, polyphenol oxidase and phenolic content. In primed and Magnaporthe oryzae isolate MG-01 challenge–inoculated plants, altered transcript levels of various defence genes such as OsPR-1 , PAL-6 , PR1-5 and PR-15 were observed. Disease tolerance to the blast pathogen was tested in glasshouse conditions using the foliar application or root dipping with various concentrations of LBD-1. Both approaches significantly decreased disease severity, but the combined spray and root dipping was more effective than either spray or root dipping alone. These findings indicate that priming rice plants with seaweed biostimulant induces resistance to blast fungus, most likely by inducing defence-related genes and enzymes.

Bacillus velezensis is widely known for its inherent biosynthetic potential to produce a wide range of bio-macromolecules and secondary metabolites, including polyketides (PKs) and siderophores, as well as ribosomally and non-ribosomally synthesized peptides. In the present study, we aimed to investigate the bio-macromolecules, such as proteins and peptides of Bacillus velezensis strains, namely A6 and P42 by whole-cell sequencing and highlighted the potential application in controlling phytopathogens. The bioactive compounds, specifically secondary metabolites, were characterized by whole-cell protein profiling, Thin-Layer Chromatography, Infra-Red Spectroscopy, Nuclear Magnetic Resonance, Gas Chromatograph and Electro Spray Liquid Chromatography. Gas Chromatography analysis revealed that the A6 and P42 strains exert different functional groups of compounds, such as aromatic ring, aliphatic, alkene, ketone, amine groups and carboxylic acid. Whole-cell protein profiling of A6 and P42 strains of B. velezensis by nano-ESI LC–MS/MS revealed the presence of 945 and 5303 proteins, respectively. The in vitro evaluation of crude extracts (10%) of A6 and P42 significantly inhibited the rice pathogen, Magnaporthe oryzae (MG01), whereas the cell-free culture filtrate (75%) of strain P42 showed 58.97% inhibition. Similarly, in vitro evaluation of crude extract (10%) of P42 strain inhibited bacterial blight of pomegranate pathogen, Xanthomonas axonopodis pv. punicae, which eventually resulted in a higher inhibition zone of 3 cm, whereas the cell-free extract (75%) of the same strain significantly suppressed the growth of the pathogen with an inhibition zone of 1.48 cm. From the results obtained, the crude secondary metabolites and cell-free filtrates (containing bio-macromolecules) of the strains A6 and P42 of B. velezensis can be employed for controlling the bacterial and fungal pathogens of crop plants.

Rice is an important food crop cultivated all over the world. India occupies first and second position in area and production respectively. This study aimed at revealing the role of red seaweed (Kappaphycus alvarezii) bioformulations (LBS-6 and LBD-1) in increasing the chlorophyll content of rice. Results have shown that seaweed bioformulations improves the efficiency when used in combination with fungicides. physiological parameter like chlorophyll content was elevated in leaves which were sprayed with LBS6 (38.50 SPAD value) which was T10 (carbendazim 50 %WP @ 0.6 g + LBS6 @ 1ml/lit).

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Endophytes confer unique ecological advantages to their host plants. In this study, we have characterized the diversity of endophytic consortia associated with the GPU-28 (GPU) and Udurumallige (UM) finger millet varieties, which are resistant and susceptible to the blast disease, respectively. Whole genome metagenome sequencing of GPU and UM helped to identify 1029 species (includes obligate endophytes) of microbiota. Among them, 385 and 357 species were unique to GPU and UM, respectively. Remaining 287 species were common to both the varieties. Actinobacteria and other plant-growth promoting bacteria were abundant in GPU as compared to UM. Functional annotation of genes predicted from genomes of endophytes associated with GPU variety showed that many genes had functional role in stress response, secondary metabolism, aromatic compounds, glutathione, and cysteine synthesis pathways as compared to UM. Based on in vitro and in planta studies, Bacillus cereus and Paenibacillus spp. were found to be effective in suppressing the growth of blast disease pathogen Magnaporthe grisea (strain MG03). In the future, these strains could serve as potential biocontrol agents to reduce the incidence of blast disease in finger millet crop.

Rice blast disease caused by Magnaporthe oryzae is a seed borne which occurs in all rice growing regions of the country (India) causing yield losses up to 40%. In the present study, we report the efficacy of different bacterial strains through seed priming in reducing the blast disease severity under in vitro, in vivo and field conditions. In vitro evaluation revealed that the Bacillus amyloliquefaciens strain UASBR9 and Serratia marcescens strain UASBR4 were found most effective in reducing disease severity (84.28%) compared to reference cultures Bacillus subtilis RBs-1 (72.00%) and Pseudomonas fluorescens RPf-1 (55.24%). The least disease severity and highest seed germination was recorded in seeds bio-primed with B. amyloliquefaciens UASBR9 (0.96 and 98.00%) under in vivo. Bio-priming also activated the induced systemic resistance as evident in the increased activities of peroxidase (0.563/min/g) and polyphenol oxidase (0.825/min/g) defense-related enzymes in comparison with untreated control in rice seedlings upon challenge inoculation with M. oryzae. Field studies showed that seeds bio-primed with B. amyloliquefaciens UASBR9 recorded lowest disease severity (7.0%) of rice blast and increased the grain yield (0.67 kg/m(2)). Our results indicated that B. amyloliquefaciens UASBR9 could be served as plant growth promoter and an environmental friendly alternative for chemical pesticides to manage rice blast disease.

During 2016-2017, carrots (Daucus carota) with severe soft rot symptoms on the tap root, associated with a foul odour, wilting and collapse of foliage (Fig. 1), were collected from the rural districts of Kolar, Chikkaballapura and Bengaluru of Karnataka state, India. Disease incidence was 20-30% in affected fields. Samples of two or three roots were collected from each of ten different fields. Isolation was done using green pepper fruits as enrichment hosts (Fig. 2), followed by streaking on nutrient agar as described by Akbar et al. (1). The resulting bacterial colonies were whitish to dull white, mucoid, raised and slimy on nutrient agar (Fig. 3). Ten isolates, one from each sample were identified as Gram-negative and anaerobic. In biochemical tests performed according to Brenner et al. (2), all isolates were positive for catalase and nitrate reductase, and used citrate, glucose, lactose, maltose, malonate and celloboise, but were negative for oxidase, indole and acetoin tests. They produced mucoid growth on Luria Bertani medium, grew at 37°C and on 5% NaCl. To confirm pathogenicity, bacterial suspensions (100 μl, approx. 108 CFU/ml) were injected into whole roots and pipetted onto 5 mm thick carrot slices (Michalik et al., 5) and incubated at 30°C and 90% relative humidity in a growth chamber. Sterile distilled water was used as a negative control. Water-soaked lesions developed on whole roots after three days, leading to soft rotting with a foul odour after four days (Fig. 4). Brown lesions were observed on carrot slices after three days and the degree of rotting varied between different isolates. Bacteria with identical colony characteristics were re-isolated from all inoculated rotted tissues. Amplification of the 16S rDNA gene was done using universal primers fD1 (5'-GAGTTTGATCCTGGTCA-3') and rP2 (5'-ACGGCTACCTTGTTACGACTT-3') (Chen et al., 2004). A single amplicon of 1200 bp was obtained and sequenced (AgriGenome Labs Pvt. Ltd., India). BLAST searches showed 99 to 100% identity with Klebsiella variicola (GenBank Accession Nos. KF036184, MF370894, KX036863 and MF185379). Representative sequences of K. variicola from India were deposited in GenBank (MF179616, MF183971, MF183969, MF183973, MF183974, MF183970, MF183972, MF373424 and MF370068). Cultures have been deposited in NBAIM (National Bureau of Agriculturally Important Microorganisms), Uttar Pradesh, India, with accession numbers: TB-2579, TB-2580, TB-2581, TB-2582, TB-2584, TB-2585, TB-2586 and TB-2587. Klebsiella variicola was originally identified as a benign endosymbiont in plants but has since been associated with disease in humans and cattle (Rosenblueth et al., 6). Fan et al. (4) reported the occurrence of K. variicola causing banana soft rot in China. This is the first report of K. variicola causing soft rot on carrot in India.

Rice blast caused by Magnaporthe oryzae is a major disease. In the present study, we aimed to identify and evaluate the novel bacterial isolates from rice rhizosphere for biocontrol of M. oryzae pathogen. Sixty bacterial strains from the rice plant’s rhizosphere were tested for their biocontrol activity against M. oryzae under in vitro and in vivo. Among them, B. amyloliquefaciens had significant high activity against the pathogen. The least disease severity and highest germination were recorded in seeds treated with B. amyloliquefaciens UASBR9 (0.96 and 98.00%) compared to untreated control (3.43 and 95.00%, respectively) under in vivo condition. These isolates had high activity of enzymes in relation to growth promoting activity upon challenge inoculation of the pathogen. The potential strains were identified based on 16S rRNA gene sequencing and dominance of these particular genes were associated in Bacillus strains. These strains were also confirmed for the presence of antimicrobial peptide biosynthetic genes viz., srfAA (surfactin), fenD (fengycin), spaS (subtilin), and ituC (iturin) related to secondary metabolite production (e.g., AMPs). Overall, the results suggested that application of potential bacterial strains like B. amyloliquefaciens UASBR9 not only helps in control of the biological suppression of one of the most devastating rice pathogens, M. grisea but also increases plant growth along with a reduction in application of toxic chemical pesticides.

AbstractBacterial blight in pomegranate caused byXanthomonas axonopodispv.punicae(Xap) is an increasing threat for pomegranate cultivation in India. To prevent the economic losses, it is pivotal to detect the infection in latent stages rather than in later stages. We have developed an enhanced method termed as loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) technique to evaluate for the latent detection of Xap in pomegranate using six set of specific primers. Three DNA intercalating dyes were used, such as Ethidium bromide, hydroxynaphthol blue (HNB) and SYBR Green resulted in visualising the positivity for LAMP assay. The reaction time and temperature were to be 65°C from 30 min onwards, for the dyes and its sensitivity was observed up to 10−7ng in the LAMP assay. For field applicability, LAMP assay detected Xap on 7thday post infection while the PCR amplified Xap after 11thday post infection. Finally, the specificity of LAMP assay was validated to be positive with ten Xap isolates for its accuracy and 29 non-Xap bacterial isolates showed negative results. Moreover, this method could be used as a better alternative to PCR based methods, for early detection of the pathogens.

Bacterial blight in pomegranate caused by Xanthomonas axonopodis pv. punicae ( Xap ) is an increasing threat for pomegranate cultivation in India. To prevent the economic losses, it is pivotal to detect the infection in latent stages rather than in later stages. We have developed an enhanced method termed as loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) technique to evaluate for the latent detection of Xap in pomegranate using six set of specific primers. Three DNA intercalating dyes were used, such as Ethidium bromide, hydroxynaphthol blue (HNB) and SYBR Green resulted in visualising the positivity for LAMP assay. The reaction time and temperature were to be 65°C from 30 min onwards, for the dyes and its sensitivity was observed up to 10−7 ng in the LAMP assay. For field applicability, LAMP assay detected Xap on 7th day post infection while the PCR amplified Xap after 11th day post infection. Finally, the specificity of LAMP assay was validated to be positive with ten Xap isolates for its accuracy and 29 non-Xap bacterial isolates showed negative results. Moreover, this method could be used as a better alternative to PCR based methods, for early detection of the pathogens.

A Soil bacterium, Bacillus subtilis, isolated from the rhizosphere of rice, showed high biocontrol activity against blast, sheath blight and bacterial blight. In the present study, four B. subtilis strains isolated from paddy soil were studied under laboratory, greenhouse and field conditions. Among the four strains assayed, UASP17 gave maximum inhibition of paddy pathogens and was validated under field trials. B. subtilis (UASP17) under different doses and methods of applications was evaluated for two seasons at Agriculture Research Station (UAS, Raichur). UASP17 was effective in reducing the severity of blast (9.00% and 15.57%), bacterial leaf blight (BLB) (5.00% and 6.11%) and sheath blight (11.93% and 4.17%) diseases for two seasons. The application of bioagent also increased the paddy grain yield (61.00 and 64.30Q/ha) in the two seasons, respectively. Taken together, these results indicate that B. subtilis UASP17 as seedling dip for 30min (10mL/L of water) prior to transplanting and 2.50L/ha foliar application was effective in managing the diseases of paddy.

Maximum percentdisease incidence (45.16%) was noticed in Besigeger village of Bellary district. In Koppal districts, maximum per cent disease incidence was recorded in Jerkundi (43.58%) followed by Koppal (41.07%). While lowest disease incidence was observed in Kalakbandi (21.87%). In Bagalkot district, maximum per cent disease incidence was recorded in Hebbal (31.41%) followed by Mahalingpur (22.42%). In Gadag district, maximum per cent disease incidence was recorded in Chumnal (36.42%). While lowest disease incidence was observed in Unchgere (25.70%). In Bijapur district, maximum disease incidence was observed in Babaleshwara (31.14%).Similarly, maximum disease incidence was observed in Appledinni (22.30%) followed by Tuntapur (18.75%) in Raichur district. Among different districts the Bellary district recorded maximum disease incidence (32.46%) followed by Koppal district (32.13%). While lowest incidence was observed in Raichur district (16.70%). Further Shot hole borer (Xyleborus fernicatus) association was noticed in the entire district, but it was absent in Raichure district. Higher wilt disease incidence was noticed in more than above 4-5 years orchards and while it was less in belove 3 years orchards. Shot hole bore association was noticed in more than 4-5 years. It was evident from the survey that among the commonly growing pomegranate cultivars, viz.,Bhagwa, Kesar, Ganesh, Arkta and Sindhur; the cultivar Bhagwa was found to be highly susceptible to C. fimbriata and shot hole borer.

Disease complexes involving nematode and fungi have gained momentum in the recent years. There was no conspicuous gall production in nematode alone and in combination with fungi. The affected roots showing brownish discolouration were observed in fungal spore suspension, fungal giant culture and fungal giant culture + M. incognita and M. incognita alone treatments. In uninoculated treatment there was no brownish discolouration. The two pathogens (M. incognita, C. fimbriata) adversely affected plant growth parameters like shoot and root length, fresh and dry weight of shoot, fresh and dry weight of root per plant. Among the two pathogens inoculated individually, maximum reduction in plant growth parameters noticed in fungal giant culture (C. fimbriata) treatment over control compared to fungal spore suspension, or M. incognita. Reduction in plant growth parameters caused by fungal spore suspension were noticed which is on par with M. incognita. With respect to of combined inoculations with nematode and fungi, greatest reduction in growth parameters was noticed in M. incognita + C. fimbriata. However, the treatment receiving the inoculum both pathogens, showed a highest reduction in plant growth parameters in comparison with other treatments.