Trichoderma SPECIES DIVERSITY IN RHIZOSPHERE SOILS AND POTENTIAL ANTAGONISM WITH Fusarium oxysporum

In this study six different Trichoderma species were isolated form rhizosphere soils of paddy, banana, oil palm, rubber, vegetables and grass land soils. The species are T. harziaum, T. viride, T. koningii, T. asperrelum, and T. parareesei. The morphological study as pigmentation, colony growth and anatomical studies such as, conidiation appearances, size of conklia, conidiophores branching pattern, shapes of phialides, absent or present of chlamydiophores were carried out to identify the species of Trichoderma. The Trchoderma harzianum species were abundant in soil while T. vixen was the second highest in the soil. All species showed the antagonistic activity against Fusarium oxysporum. While, T. parareesei showed the highest antagonistic 91.10 % activity against F. oxysporum, reported as best antagonism agent for phytopathogen.