Suppression of maize downy mildew by Streptomyces hygroscopicus, Trichoderma asperellum, and Paenibacillus polymyxa
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.24425/jppr.2026.5979Abstract
This study identified the causal agent of maize (Zea mays L.) downy mildew in Lampung and evaluated the suppressive effects of three antagonistic microorganisms. The pathogen was identified as Peronosclerospora maydis (Racib.) C.G. Shaw based on cox2 sequence and phylogenetic analyses. Streptomyces hygroscopicus (Jensen) Waksman & Henrici, Trichoderma asperellum Samuels, Lieckf. & Nirenberg, and Paenibacillus polymyxa (Prazmowski) Ash, Priest & Collins were evaluated via a seed germination assay and a greenhouse experiment with soil-drenching and foliar-spraying applications. Microbial treatments increased germination from 66.67% to 90.00–96.67% and prolonged the incubation period from 11.78 to 15.15–18.30 days. At 5 weeks post-treatment, disease severity decreased from 96.88% to 63.13–81.87%, and AUDPC decreased from 239.69 (control) to 120.31–177.81. Streptomyces hygroscopicus and T. asperellum significantly reduced final disease severity, whereas P. polymyxa showed an intermediate response. The application method had no significant effect, indicating that S. hygroscopicus and T. asperellum are promising biological control agents against maize downy mildew.
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