Phytophthora stopped by good bacteria

[treeseer]

http://www.freepatentsonline.com/4996157.html

Over 20 years ago the discovery was made, but given the increase in Phytophthora infections in trees it seems newly relevant. Good basis for selling soil improvement imo.

 

[John Paul Sanborn]

In addition to colonizing roots, Trichoderma spp. attack, parasitize and otherwise gain nutrition from other fungi. Since Trichoderma spp. grow and proliferate best when there are abundant healthy roots, they have evolved numerous mechanisms for both attack of other fungi and for enhancing plant and root growth. Several new general methods for both biocontrol and for causing enhancement of plant growth have recently been demonstrated and it is now clear that there must be hundreds of separate genes and gene products involved in these processes. A recent list of mechanisms follows.

* Mycoparasitism
* Antibiosis
* Competition for nutrients or space
* Tolerance to stress through enhanced root and plant development
* Solubilization and sequestration of inorganic nutrients
* Induced resistance
* Inactivation of the pathogen’s enzymes

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http://www.nysaes.cornell.edu/ent/biocontrol/pathogens/trichoderma.html