Inhibition of Pythium myriotylum by silicates and its impact on soft rot disease of ginger (Zingiber officinale Rosc.)

Abstract

Soft rot disease of ginger caused by Pythium myriotylum Drechsler is a major threat to Ginger cultivation in India. The present study analyzed the effect of sodium and potassium silicates at 3% and sodium metasilicate at 70 mM concentration on the growth of P. myriotylum. Silicate effect on mycelial growth showed alteration in hyphal morphology and development. The biochemical analysis of silicate treated mycelia revealed variation in the virulent factors (glycerol and exopolysaccharide content) and cell membrane permeability when compared with non-silicate amended control. Silicate treatment showed an overall growth stimulation and decrease in disease incidence. Among the treatments, potassium silicate is found to be more promising, followed by sodium silicate and sodium metasilicate. These findings suggest the possibility of using silicate molecules as an alternative to fungicides against soft rot disease. This is the first attempt to study the effect of silicate molecules against soft rot pathogen of ginger.

Keywords:

• Ginger
• sodium silicate
• potassium silicate and sodium metasilicate
• Pythium myriotylum

Acknowledgements

The authors were grateful to Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) No.09/757(0010)/2018-EMR-1) for funding, Director IISR-Kozhikode for providing facilities. The authors are also grateful to Noble Al-Chem private limited, Indore for providing silicates for the investigation and to Mr K Jayarajan, Senior Technical Officer, for statistical analysis.

Disclosure statement

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.