<i>In vitro</i> screening of selected herbicides on rhizosphere mycoflora from yellow pepper (<i>Capsicum annum</i> L var. Nsukka yellow) seedlings in Nsukka, Enugu state, Nigeria

Abstract

In vitro screening of five selected herbicides at different concentrations on rhizosphere mycoflora from yellow pepper (capsicum annum L var. Nsukka yellow) seedlings at Nsukka were investigated. The herbicides employed for this study were Paraquat, Glyphosate, Primextra, Atrazine and Linuron. The isolated rhizosphere mycoflora organisms screened were Rhizopus stolonifer (Ehren ex. Fr) Lind, Trichoderma harmatum Bain aggr; Aspergillus niger Van Tiegh; Sclerotium rolfsii Sacc; Penicillium sp; Alternaria sp; Fusarium solani (Mart) Sacc and Rhizoctonia sp. The results showed that all the herbicides at different concentrations of 0.5 μg/ml a.i, 1.0 μg/ml a.i, 2.0 μg/ml a.i, 5.0 μg/ml a.i and 10.0 μg/ml a.i inhibited the mycelial growth of the isolated rhizosphere fungi. Growth inhibition of the rhizosphere fungi increased with increasing concentrations of each herbicide. Paraquat, Glyphosate and Atrazine showed higher inhibition potency on all the fungal mycelial growth than Primextra and Linuron. The significance of these results is discussed.

KEYWORDS: In vitro screening, herbicides, Rhizosphere mycoflora, yellow pepper seedlings.