Potato bacterial wilt suppression and plant health improvement after application of different antioxidants

Bacterial wilt caused by Ralstonia solanacearum is a devastating disease that often threatens potato production and exportation. The potential of four antioxidants (seaweed extract (SWE), yeast, chitosan and ascorbic acid (ASA)) in controlling the disease was evaluated in vitro, under glasshouse and field conditions. The field experiment was conducted in two naturally infested locations: Wardan, Giza (sandy soil), and Talia, Minufiya (silty clay soil). Only chitosan showed antibacterial properties against the pathogen in vitro. SWE, yeast and chitosan showed disease suppression under both glasshouse and field conditions. The disease suppression was accompanied by an increase in the ratio of soil copiotrophic to oligotrophic bacteria. The three antioxidants increased plant nitrogen content, decreased soil OM content and decreased C/N ratio. Disease suppression after chitosan application was clearly observed only in Wardan area, which was characterized by a higher soil alkalinity. A high percentage of antagonistic fluorescent strains similar to Pseudomonas putida group were detected for chitosan-treated plants in Wardan area (sandy soil). ASA drastically decreased the count of the pathogen in soil, but was conducive to the pathogen in plant tissues. A remarkable increase in microbial (bacterial and fungal) soil and rhizosphere diversity as indicated by PCR-DGGE analysis for bacterial 16S rRNA and fungal 18S rRNA was recorded. In Talia area (silty clay soil), the soil microbial community was more stable and was in general resistant to the disease where the soils were characterized by high electrical conductivity. SWE, yeast and ASA significantly increased crop production in Talia area only.