Experiment #3: Growth of Trichoderma harzianum on a soybean host with Sclerotinia sclerotiorum

Hypothesis: T. harzianum will reduce the severity of S. sclerotiorum infection in soybean Seedlings.

Experiment

Prepare 6 Soybean seedlings. Wrap 2x seedlings with S. sclerotiorum and 2x seedlings with both S. sclerotiorum and T. harzianum. Leave the last 2x seedlings as a control.

My prepared soybean seedlings

Control

In this experiment, the seedlings with no fungi will be the control. This will allow me to compare the growth of the seedlings with S. sclerotiorum and T. harzianum to the growth of the seedlings without any fungi.

Treatments

1. Soybeans inoculated with S. sclerotiorum
2. Soybeans inoculated with S. sclerotiorum and T. harzianum

Plants are inoculated by taking a sample of the fungi, and wrapping it around the base of the plant using parafilm. The plants were left in a grow chamber for 6 days.

Results

Control

Control plants	Control stems, slight natural discoloration in stems.

Treatment #1: S. sclerotiorum only

S. sclerotiorum only. More discoloration on stems, but no clear signs of disease	Close up on stems

Treatment #2: S. sclerotiorum and T. harzianum

Both microbes together, discoloration is less than on S. sclerotiorum trials, but not enough to reach any conclusion	Close up on stems

Conclusion

This experiment was also inconclusive. The plants with S. sclerotiorum and T. harzianum had less discoloration than the plants with only S. sclerotiorum, but not enough to reach any conclusion. The control plants had slight natural discoloration, but not enough to be concerned about. I was not able to decern if T. harzianum had any effect in reducing the severity of S. sclerotiorum (white mold) in a soybean host. In future experiments, I would…

1. Use a larger sample size
2. Inoculate earlier in the growth cycle
3. Attach the fungi to the roots of the plants
4. Use a different method of inoculation