Hongos endófitos del café: diversidad y antagonismo hacia la roya de la hoja del café.

Abstract

Abstract: Most coffee cultivars are susceptible to diseases such as the coffee leaf rust (CLR) which causes drastic economic loses all around the world, and represents a major challenge to farmers. A common control to fight the disease is through the application of fungicides or the selection of new resistant varieties. A third potential solution to prevent, ameliorate, or control the disease is the application of endophyte species. All plants harbour endophytic asymptomatic microbial communities and many species might exert beneficial effects on their host plants, e.g. protection against diseases. We characterised the diversity of fungal endophytes from two Coffea arabica varieties, susceptible and resistant to CLR. In adition, we evaluated the potential antagonism of four endophyte species against CLR, analyzing the differences in both the colonization success and the severity of H. vastatrix in coffee leaf discs under three conditions: inoculation of the endophyte species before CLR, simultaneous inoculation of both the endophyte and the rust, and inoculation of CLR before the arrival of the endophyte. We found higher endophyte diversity and density in the resistant coffee cultivar (Colombia) than in the susceptible variety (Caturra). Six endophyte species were reported for the first time in Ecuador. Overall, the inoculation of endophytes before CLR decreased disease severity. Two Colletotrichum spp reduced CLR colonization success and C. boninense and Xylaria adscendens strongly diminished the percentage of CLR severity. Overall, the inoculation of endophyte species before CLR infection might be a powerful alternative to pesticides and would be more environmental friendly, probably improving coffee and farmers live quality.