Activity of seaweed and cyanobacteria water extracts against <em>Podosphaera xanthii</em> on zucchini
10.6092/issn.2531-7342/6425
Nell’agricoltura tradizionale, da molto tempo, i patogeni delle colture sono gestiti con agrofarmaci di sintesi, il cui uso è attualmente regolamentato in maniera più sostenibile, rispetto al passato, per la salvaguardia della salute dell’uomo e dell’ambiente. Le nuove normative prevedono l’utilizzo di mezzi alternativi a tali prodotti, tra cui quelli costituiti da microrganismi fungini e batterici, alcuni dei quali sono registrati come agrofarmaci per la difesa delle colture dai patogeni. Altri prodotti composti da sostanze naturali, come gli estratti di alghe, sono noti per esercitare un’azione biostimolante della pianta, consentendole di superare stress abiotici e biotici, e quindi rappresentano una interessante possibilità di impiego nella difesa integrata delle colture. Pochi studi sono stati condotti per saggiare l’effetto delle alghe nei confronti di patogeni fungini fogliari. Lo scopo di questa ricerca è stato quindi quello di verificare su cotiledoni di zucchino (Cucurbita pepo) l’attività diretta di estratti di alghe rosse (Phylum Rodophyta), alghe brune (Phylum Heterokontophyta), alghe verdi (Phylum Chlorophyta) e cianobatteri (Phylum Cyanobacteria) contro il patogeno fungino Podosphaera xanthii, agente del mal bianco delle cucurbitacee. Le foglie cotiledonari sono state recise da piante sane, trattate per nebulizzazione con ciascun estratto di alghe e cianobatteri, quindi inoculate con 6 gocce di 10 µl ciascuna di sospensione sporale del patogeno (1×106 spore/ml) e incubate su agar acqua in capsule Petri per 9 giorni a 22-24 °C. L’effetto dei trattamenti è stato valutato sia come gravità di malattia (percentuale di area fogliare con sintomi di malattia/area inoculata), sia come densità di sporulazione (numero di spore/area fogliare inoculata). In funzione della specie saggiata, gli estratti hanno mostrato effetti di inibizione, stimolazione o nessun effetto sui parametri considerati. Gli estratti delle alghe rosse Corallina sp. ed Halopithys sp., dell’alga bruna Sargassum sp. e dei cianobatteri Anabaena sp. e Spirulina sp. hanno ridotto significativamente sia la malattia, sia la sporulazione. Al contrario, gli estratti di alghe verdi hanno dimostrato effetti nulli o hanno stimolato la malattia. Questo studio dimostra che trattamenti preventivi di cotiledoni di zucchino con estratti acquosi di alghe marine e cianobatteri possono essere considerati per ulteriori studi in strategie di gestione delle malattie in agricoltura sostenibile.
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Carolina Pérez Reyes
Italian Journal of Mycology
disease control
Activity of seaweed and cyanobacteria water extracts against <em>Podosphaera xanthii</em> on zucchini
Text.Serial.Journal
https://italianmycology.unibo.it/
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Articles
2016-11-17
2016-11-17
2016-04-21
2018-08-20
66-77
Ital J Mycol
Carolina Pérez Reyes
2016/11/17
10.6092/issn.2531-7342/6425
66
University de las Palmas de Gran Canaria
2531-7342
disease control
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Activity of seaweed and cyanobacteria water extracts against <em>Podosphaera xanthii</em> on zucchini
https://italianmycology.unibo.it/article/download/6425/6156
45
R. Roberti, H. Righini , C. Pérez Reyes                          Italian journal of Mycology vol. 45 (2016) ISSN 2531-7342
DOI: 10.6092/isnn.2531-7342/6425




  Activity of seaweed and cyanobacteria water
  extracts against Podosphaera xanthii on zucchini
  ________________________________________________________________________________

                 Roberta Roberti (1), Hillary Righini (1), Carolina Pérez Reyes(2)

  1
    Department of Agricultural Sciences, Alma Mater Studiorum, University of Bologna, viale G. Fanin, 46,
  40127 Bologna, Italy
  2
    BEA-Banco Español de Algas, Universidad de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria (ULPGC), Las Palmas, Canary
  Islands, Spain

  Correspondig Author e-mail: roberta.roberti@unibo.it

  Abstract

        The purpose of this research was to study the effects of water extracts of algae belonging to the phylum
       Rodophyta, Heterokontophya, Chlorophyta and of Cyanobacteria against Podosphaera xanthii on zucchini
       (Cucurbita pepo) cotyledons. Each extract was sprayed on the upper surface of cotyledons at the concentration
       of 0.5 %, then cotyledons were inoculated with six 10-µl drops of a spore suspension of the pathogen (1×106
       spores/ml), and incubated on water agar in Petri dishes. Depending on the species, the extracts showed
       inhibition, stimulation or no effect on the disease severity caused by P. xanthii and on the pathogen sporulation
       density. Extracts of Corallina sp., Halopithys sp., Sargassum sp. and Anabaena sp. showed significant
       inhibitory effect on both parameters. This study suggests that seaweed and cyanobacteria water extracts applied
       on zucchini cotyledons may be considered in further experiments on plants as a useful preventative tool for the
       disease management in sustainable agriculture.

       Keywords: seaweed; cyanobacteria; extracts; Podosphaera xanthii; zucchini; disease control


  Riassunto

       Nell’agricoltura tradizionale, da molto tempo, i patogeni delle colture sono gestiti con agrofarmaci di sintesi, il
       cui uso è attualmente regolamentato in maniera più sostenibile, rispetto al passato, per la salvaguardia della
       salute dell’uomo e dell’ambiente. Le nuove normative prevedono l’utilizzo di mezzi alternativi a tali prodotti,
       tra cui quelli costituiti da microrganismi fungini e batterici, alcuni dei quali sono registrati come agrofarmaci
       per la difesa delle colture dai patogeni. Altri prodotti composti da sostanze naturali, come gli estratti di alghe,
       sono noti per esercitare un’azione biostimolante della pianta, consentendole di superare stress abiotici e biotici,
       e quindi rappresentano una interessante possibilità di impiego nella difesa integrata delle colture. Pochi studi
       sono stati condotti per saggiare l’effetto delle alghe nei confronti di patogeni fungini fogliari. Lo scopo di
       questa ricerca è stato quindi quello di verificare su cotiledoni di zucchino (Cucurbita pepo) l’attività diretta di
       estratti di alghe rosse (Phylum Rodophyta), alghe brune (Phylum Heterokontophyta), alghe verdi (Phylum
       Chlorophyta) e cianobatteri (Phylum Cyanobacteria) contro il patogeno fungino Podosphaera xanthii, agente
       del mal bianco delle cucurbitacee. Le foglie cotiledonari sono state recise da piante sane, trattate per
       nebulizzazione con ciascun estratto di alghe e cianobatteri, quindi inoculate con 6 gocce di 10 µl ciascuna di
       sospensione sporale del patogeno (1×106 spore/ml) e incubate su agar acqua in capsule Petri per 9 giorni a 22-
       24 °C. L’effetto dei trattamenti è stato valutato sia come gravità di malattia (percentuale di area fogliare con
  66
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DOI: 10.6092/isnn.2531-7342/6425



    sintomi di malattia/area inoculata), sia come densità di sporulazione (numero di spore/area fogliare inoculata).
    In funzione della specie saggiata, gli estratti hanno mostrato effetti di inibizione, stimolazione o nessun effetto
    sui parametri considerati. Gli estratti delle alghe rosse Corallina sp. ed Halopithys sp., dell’alga bruna
    Sargassum sp. e dei cianobatteri Anabaena sp. e Spirulina sp. hanno ridotto significativamente sia la malattia,
    sia la sporulazione. Al contrario, gli estratti di alghe verdi hanno dimostrato effetti nulli o hanno stimolato la
    malattia. Questo studio dimostra che trattamenti preventivi di cotiledoni di zucchino con estratti acquosi di
    alghe marine e cianobatteri possono essere considerati per ulteriori studi in strategie di gestione delle malattie
    in agricoltura sostenibile.

    Parole chiave: alghe; cianobatteri; estratti; Podosphaera xanthii; zucchino; difesa da malattie

  Introduction

  The term Algae includes several group of eukaryotic photosynthetic organisms not necessarily closely
  related. In this group, are included unicellular organisms as green algae e.g. Chlorella species, or
  multicellular algae, as brown algae e.g. Sargassum species that can reach several meters in length. Algae are
  widely distributed and are able to live both in temperate and cold water and at different depth. The
  geographic location and the season of harvest (Black 1950; Painter 1983) influence algae composition such
  as the content in polysaccharides (Rioux et al. 2007), the color and the presence of pigments involved in the
  photosynthesis that discriminates between the Phylum Chlorophyta (green algae), Heterokontophyta (brown
  algae) and Rhodophyta (red algae). Seaweed extracts can help the plants to better cope with biotic and
  abiotic stresses and offer potentiality for field application (Morot-Gaudry et al. 2009). Several benefic effects
  were observed such as improving of seed germination (Rayorath et al. 2008), plant growth, root
  development, nutrient elements transferring, resistance to the pathogens and yields (Stephenson 1966;
  Hankins and Hockey 1990; Craigie 2010). These effects were partly attributed to the content of essential
  nutrients and to the trace of metal mixtures (Cu, Co, Zn, Mn, Mo, etc.) which are necessary for the plants but
  not often present in the fertilizers (Craigie 2010; Rayorath et al. 2008). Seaweed extracts also contain a
  number of plant growth-regulators like cytokinins and auxins that resulted to increase yields and to improve
  heat tolerance in the plants (Zhang et al. 2010).
  Cyanobacteria (blue-green algae) are prokaryotic microorganisms, widespread in all habitats, both in fresh
  and salt water (Lawton et al. 1991) and terrestrial soil. They are mostly photoautotrophic (Kulik 1995) able
  to fix nitrogen and produce a large variety of active secondary metabolites such as antibiotics, antiviral and
  antifungal compounds (Skulberg 2000). In a recent study we have demonstrated that application of a water
  extract of the strain Anabaena sp. BEA300B on zucchini cotyledons helps the earlier accumulation in the
  plant of enzymes correlated to induced systemic resistance as chitinase, ß-1,3-glucanase and peroxidase
  (Roberti et al. 2015).
  Podosphaera xanthii (Castagne) U. Braun and Shishkoff (Ascomycota, Erysiphales) is one of the casual
  agents of powdery mildew, the major disease of plants belong to Cucurbitaceae, in particular zucchini
  plants, both in open field and greenhouse in Italy (Brunelli and Gengotti 2007) and worldwide (Peréz-García
  et al. 2009). This disease can markedly limit cucurbit production, so the control is needed. Traditionally,
  powdery mildew control by systemic synthetic fungicides is achieved (Mcgrath 2001; Brunelli and Gengotti
  2007).
  Currently, the research in plant disease control moves on methods with a low ambient impact. Microbial
  fungicides based on the mycoparasite Ampelomyces quisqualis is commercialized in several countries and
  other biological means have been proposed to control cucurbit powdery mildew (Romero et al. 2004), but
  little is known about the use of algae and cyanobacteria extracts against powdery mildew on zucchini.

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DOI: 10.6092/isnn.2531-7342/6425



  Roberti et al. (2015) also demonstrated that the extract of the cyanobacterium Anabaena BEA300B showed a
  direct antifungal activity on pathogen sporulation.
  Considering that the control of fungal plant diseases is based on synthetic products, whose continuous use in
  the past brought several damages on human and animal health and to the agro-ecosystem, this research aimed
  to study the possibility to reduce powdery mildew disease on zucchini cotyledons through the preventative
  application of several seaweed and cyanobacteria extracts, as environmental-safe products complementary to
  crop nutrition and crop protection.

  Materials and methods

  Seaweed and cyanobacteria water extracts, plant material and pathogen
  Algae and cyanobacteria were isolated by Banco Español de Algas (BEA), Marine Biotechnology Center,
  University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria. The algae were collected from the sea (Fig.1a), partially dried in
  the greenhouse under environmental lighting for 12 h, dried at 60 °C and then grinded and pulverized with a
  mill (Fig.1b).




  Fig. 1. Preparation of seaweed water extracts: a) fresh seaweed; b) in order from the top, seaweed dried at 60 °C, mill
  and seaweed pulverized by the mill; c) seaweed water extraction.
  Fig. 1. Preparazione degli estratti acquosi di alghe: a) alga fresca; b) in ordine dall’alto, alga essiccata a 60 °C,
  polverizzatore e alga polverizzata; c) estrazione in acqua.


  Cyanobacteria were cultivated in a low cost bioreactor (Almeida et al. 2009) for 20 days, centrifuged
  (12,000 rpm), lyophilized and then maintained at 4 °C. The water extracts of algae and cyanobacteria were
  obtained by suspending each powder in sterile distilled water (0.5 %) under continuous stirring at 50 °C for
  12 h (Fig.1c), and then filtered through sterile filter paper before use. This extraction procedure was that
  provided the best plant responses without causing phytotoxic effects in preliminary tests.


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DOI: 10.6092/isnn.2531-7342/6425


  Tab. 1. Types, Phylum1 and species of the algae and cyanobacteria used in the experiments.
  Tab. 1. Tipi, Phylum1 e specie di alghe e cianobatteri utilizzati negli esperimenti.


  Green Algae (Chlorophyta)                       Red Algae (Rhodophyta)    Blue-green Algae (Cyanobacteria)

  Cymopolia barbata                               Corallina sp.             Microcoleus sp.
  Chlorella sp.                                   Gracilaria cornea         Anabaena sp.
  Ulva rigida                                     Grateloupia sp.           Phormidium sp.
                                                  Halopithys sp.            Spirulina sp.
  Brown Algae (Heterokontophyta)
                                                  Hypnea sp.
  Cystoseira sp.                                  Solieria sp.
  Ecklonia sp.
  Lobophora variegata
  Sargassum sp.
  1
      Classification from Ruggiero et al. 2015.
  1
      Classificazione da Ruggiero et al. 2015.

  Zucchini plants var. Giambo F1 (Semencoop s.r.l., Cesena, FC, Italy) were grown in a substrate consisting of
  a sterile mixture of peat moss, sand and vermiculite (2:1:1 v:v:v) in pots (10 cm diameter). Plants were
  grown under a greenhouse at 22–24 °C (day), 16–18 °C (night), 14 h photoperiod and 60–80 % relative
  humidity.
  The pathogen P. xanthii was obtained from zucchini leaves showing symptoms of powdery mildew collected
  at the experimental farm of the University of Bologna, located in the Po Valley, province of Bologna,
  Northern Italy (44°38056.2800N; 11°29024.0000E). Infected leaves were vigorously shaken on 15-day-old
  healthy plants of zucchini, maintained at the above conditions. The pathogen was identified based on
  morphological features of spore germination (Zaracovitis 1965) and on the presence of fibrosin bodies
  (Lebeda 1983). The pathogen was used to prepare the spore suspension (1×106 spores/ml) for leaf
  inoculation.
  Treatments with extracts and pathogen inoculation
  Zucchini cotyledons were cut off from 12-day-old healthy plants, sterilized with sodium chloride (1 % active
  Cl) for 3 minutes, washed three times with sterile distilled water and dried with adsorbent sterile paper. Four
  cotyledons were placed in each Petri dish (13 cm diam.), in 3 replicates, with the bottom surface in contact
  with the surface of an agarised medium containing Difco agar 1.5 %, glucose 10 g/l, benomyl 1 g/l,
  prochloraz 10 mg/l and streptomycin sulphate 0.5 g/l. Cotyledons were sprayed with each seaweed and
  cyanobacteria water extract separately until the surfaces were wet (5 ml of extract 0.5 % per cotyledon).
  Control cotyledons were sprayed with sterile distilled water. When cotyledons were dry, they were
  inoculated on the adaxial surface (Fig. 2) with six 10-µl drops of a spore suspension of P. xanthii (1×106
  spores/ml) in a sterile laminar flow cabinet, according to Moret et al. (2009) with modifications. Plates were
  kept in a growth chamber at 22-24 °C under 12h/12h light/dark cycle, 95-100 % relative humidity, the
  essential conditions to achieve spreading lesions. The experiment was performed three times with similar
  results.




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DOI: 10.6092/isnn.2531-7342/6425




  Fig. 2. Drops of spore suspension of Podosphaera xanthii (1×106 spores/ml) deposited on the adaxial surface of
  cotyledons after the treatment with seaweed and cyanobacteria extracts.
  Fig. 2. Gocce di sospensione sporale di Podosphaera xanthii (1×106 spore/ml) depositate sulla pagina superiore di
  cotiledoni dopo il trattamento con estratti acquosi di alghe marine e cianobatteri.
  Disease evaluation
  The effect of the extracts on the disease was evaluated 9 days after pathogen inoculation both visually and at
  the optical microscope as disease severity, which represent the percentage of area showing symptoms of P.
  xanthii disease (white, powdery spots) and as sporulation density expressed as number of spores/mm2 of
  inoculated area. For sporulation density detection, each cotyledon was washed with 5 ml of distilled water to
  remove the spores. Four drops of 10 µl of the spore suspension removed from treated and no treated
  cotyledons, were observed at the optical microscope and spores were counted.
  Statistical methods
  Data of each set of experiments were pooled since analysis of variance demonstrated that the experiment
  factor did not significantly interact with the treatment factor in any experimental set. Data in the figures are
  means of percentage of the repeated experiments. Percentage data were arcsine transformed before statistical
  analysis and original data are showed in the figures. Data collected from the experiments were analyzed
  using One-way ANOVA and means were compared with LSD test, P < 0.05, Statgraphic Plus Version 2.1
  (Statistical Graphics Corp., USA 1996).

  Results

  Seaweed and cyanobacteria water extracts showed reduction, stimulation of diseased severity and of
  sporulation density, or no activity. Among the green algae, no species were able to reduce significantly the
  infected area and the pathogen sporulation. On the contrary, Chlorella sp. stimulated the infected area and
  Ulva rigida increased the pathogen sporulation (Fig.3).
  Brown algae extracts showed some significant inhibition effects. Sargassum sp. reduced significantly both
  the infected area (55.1 %) and the sporulation (84.0 %) with respect to the inoculated control, while the
  treatment with Cystoceira sp. extract reduced the infected area only. On the contrary, Ecklonia sp. stimulated
  the infected area compared to the inoculated control. The other extracts did not show any significant effects
  (Fig.4).

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  Fig. 3. Effect of treatment of zucchini cotyledons with water extracts of green algae on the percentage of infected area
  and on the sporulation density of Podosphaera xanthii. Percentages were calculated with respect to the inoculated
  control that was treated with water only. The asterisk on columns indicates significant difference between a treatment
  and the inoculated control according to LSD test (P < 0.05). On images, I.C. = Inoculated Control, CHL. = Chlorella sp.
  Fig. 3. Effetto del trattamento dei cotiledoni di zucchino con estratti acquosi di alghe verdi sulla percentuale dell’area
  infetta e sulla densità di sporulazione di Podosphaera xanthii. Le percentuali sono state calcolate rispetto al testimone
  inoculato e trattato solo con acqua. Gli asterischi sulle colonne indicano differenza significativa tra un trattamento ed il
  controllo inoculato, in accordo con il test LDS (P < 0.05). Nell’immagine, I.C. = Controllo Inoculato, CHL. = Chlorella
  sp.




  Fig. 4. Effect of treatment of zucchini cotyledons with water extracts of brown algae on the percentage of infected area
  and on the sporulation density of Podosphaera xanthii. Percentages were calculated with respect to the inoculated
  control that was treated with water only. The asterisk on columns indicates significant difference between a treatment
  and the inoculated control according to LSD test (P < 0.05). On images, I.C. = Inoculated Control, CYS. = Cystoseira
  sp., ECK. = Ecklonia sp., SAR. = Sargassum sp.

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DOI: 10.6092/isnn.2531-7342/6425


  Fig. 4. Effetto del trattamento dei cotiledoni di zucchino con estratti acquosi di alghe brune sulla percentuale dell’area
  infetta e sulla densità di sporulazione di Podosphaera xanthii. Le percentuali sono state calcolate rispetto al testimone
  inoculato e trattato solo con acqua. Gli asterischi sulle colonne indicano differenza significativa tra un trattamento ed il
  controllo inoculato in accordo con il test LDS (P < 0.05). Nell’immagine, I.C. = Controllo Inoculato, CYS. = Cystoseira
  sp., ECK. = Ecklonia sp., SAR. = Sargassum sp.




  Fig. 5. Effect of treatment of zucchini cotyledons with water extracts of red algae on the percentage of infected area and
  on the sporulation density of Podosphaera xanthii. Percentages were calculated with respect to the inoculated control
  that was treated with water only. The asterisk on columns indicates significant difference between a treatment and the
  inoculated control according to LSD test (P < 0.05). On images, I.C. = Inoculated Control, COR. = Corallina sp., GRA.
  = Grateloupia sp., HAL. = Halopithys sp.
  Fig. 5. Effetto del trattamento dei cotiledoni di zucchino con estratti acquosi di alghe rosse sulla percentuale dell’area
  infetta e sulla densità di sporulazione di Podosphaera xanthii. Le percentuali sono state calcolate rispetto al testimone
  inoculato e trattato solo con acqua. Gli asterischi sulle colonne indicano differenza significativa tra un trattamento ed il
  controllo inoculato in accordo con il test LDS (P < 0.05). Nell’immagine, I.C. = Controllo Inoculato, COR. = Corallina
  sp., GRA. = Grateloupia sp., HAL. = Halopithys sp.

  Among red algae, Corallina sp. and Halopithys sp. significantly reduced both the infected area (87.8 % and
  96.8 %, respectively) and sporulation (51.2 % and 30.2 %, respectively) in comparison to the inoculated
  control. Grateloupia sp. markedly decreased only the infected area (59.4 %). Hypnea sp. significantly
  stimulated the sporulation (Fig.5).
  The extract of Cyanobacteria Anabaena sp. and Spirulina sp. significantly reduced the infected area by 26.6
  % and 35.5 %, respectively. All the cyanobacteria extracts significantly reduced pathogen sporulation, with
  respect to the inoculated control (Microcoleus sp. 38.4 %, Anabaena sp. 53.7%, Phormidium sp. 32.4 %,
  Spirulina sp. 15.5%) (Fig.6).




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  Fig. 6. Effect of treatment of zucchini cotyledons with water extracts of Cyanobacteria on the percentage of infected
  area and on the sporulation density of Podosphaera xanthii. Percentages were calculated with respect to the inoculated
  control that was treated with water only. The asterisk on columns indicates significant difference between a treatment
  and the inoculated control according to LSD test (P < 0.05). On images, I.C. = Inoculated Control, ANAB. = Anabaena
  sp., SPI. = Spirulina sp.
  Fig. 6. Effetto del trattamento dei cotiledoni di zucchino con estratti acquosi di cianobatteri sulla percentuale dell’area
  infetta e sulla densità di sporulazione di Podosphaera xanthii. Le percentuali sono state calcolate rispetto al testimone
  inoculato e trattato solo con acqua. Gli asterischi sulle colonne indicano differenza significativa tra un trattamento ed il
  controllo inoculato in accordo con il test LDS (P < 0.05). Nell’immagine, I.C. = Controllo Inoculato, ANAB. =
  Anabaena sp., SPI. = Spirulina sp.

  Discussion and conclusion

  Algae and cyanobacteria represent an interesting source of natural products with a broad spectrum of
  biological activities such as antimicrobial (Bouhlal et al. 2010), antiviral (Kim and Karadeniz 2011),
  antifungal (De Felício et al. 2010), antiallergic (Na et al. 2005), anticoagulant (Dayong et al. 2008),
  anticancer (Kim et al. 2011), antifouling and antioxidant activities (Devi et al. 2011). According to the
  literature, most of the researches focused the microbiological activities of extracts against human pathogens
  such as fungi, yeasts, bacteria and viruses (Richardson 1993; Burjia et al. 2001; Newman et al 2003; Raja et
  al. 2013). Few reports considered the effect of algae and cyanobacteria extracts against plant pathogens in
  vitro (Kulik 1995; Rizvi and Hameel 2003; Kumar et al. 2008; Arunkumar et al. 2010; Omar et al. 2012;
  Sivakumar, 2014). Very few researches regarded in vivo experiments that showed inhibitory effect of the
  extracts against phytopathogens such as Botrytis cinerea on tomato (Jemenez et al. 2011), P. xanthii on
  zucchini plants (Roberti et al. 2015), Erysiphe polygoni on turnips and Botrytis cinerea on strawberry
  (Stephenson 1966).
  In this paper, we demonstrated that some water extracts of seaweed and cyanobacteria reduced the infected
  area and the sporulation of P. xanthii on zucchini cotyledons. Among the tested red algae, extracts derived
  from Corallina sp. and Halopythis sp. were the most active. The antifungal activity of other species of red

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  algae was showed against Botrytis cinerea on detached tomato leaves (Jiménez et al. 2011). The
  antimicrobial activity was related to a great variety of sulphated galactans synthesized by red seaweeds,
  which are the major components of the extracellular matrix (Damonte et al. 2004; Aruna et al. 2010;
  Matsihiro et al. 2005; Pujol et al. 2006; Souza et al. 2012). Corallinales are also characterized by the
  presence of calcium carbonate in their cell walls (Silva and Johansen 1986) that is known to exert a
  repellent action. Little information is available about biological active compounds of Halopithys sp. Some
  studies reported that H. incurva extracts contain phenolic compounds showing antioxidant and chemo-
  preventative activities (Oumaskour et al. 2013; ZBAKH et al. 2014). Among the brown algae we tested,
  only the extract from Sargassum sp. was able to reduce disease symptoms and sporulation. Our data were
  consistent with the inhibition activity exerted by Sargassum extract against the plant pathogen Aspergillus
  flavus (Mandal et al. 2007). We hypothesize that polysaccharides such as laminarina, fucoidans and
  alginates, which are contained in many brown seaweeds (Chizhov et al. 1998; Duarte et al. 2001; Patankar
  et al. 1993), can be involved in the biological activities (Vera et al. 2011).
  Cyanobacteria are considered one of the most promising group of microorganisms for their bioactive
  compounds. Anabaena sp. and Spirulina sp. extracts were the most effective against P. xanthii disease. It has
  been showed that both species produce numerous secondary metabolites, toxins and others compounds as
  lipopeptides, aminoacids, fatty acids. Among the lipopeptides, some of them have demonstrated cytotoxic,
  antitumoral, antiviral, antibiotic activity and some effects as herbicides and antifungal against pathogens
  (Burja et al. 2000; Patterson et al. 1994). Frankmölle et al. (1992a) reported that extracts of A. laxa inhibited
  the growth of fungi as Aspergillus oryzae, Candida albicans, Penicillium notatum and Saccharomyces
  cerevisiae. This activity was attributed to the laxaficine (Frankmölle et al. 1992b). Moreover, Kellam et al.
  (1988) showed that A. variabilis extract inhibited the growth of the cellulolytic fungus Chaetomium
  globosum.
  Extracts from green algae did not showed any inhibitory effects on P. xanthii disease. Similarly, Kumar et
  al. (2008) recorded no activity in vitro by extract of two green seaweeds, Chaetomorpha antennina and
  Enteromorpha flexuosa, against Pseudomonas syringae. On the contrary, Omar et al. (2012) found in vitro
  activity of green algae such as Ulva reticulata and Enteromorpha prolifera against Aspergillus flavus, A.
  fumigatus and A. niger.
  In this study, sporadic cases of increasing of disease symptoms or pathogen sporulation were found. This
  behaviour may be due to the composition of the substances in the seaweed extract, such as polysaccharides
  and mineral salts that fungi can utilize for their growth (Basu et al. 2015).
  In conclusion, this study shows that some seaweed and cyanobacteria water extracts applied on zucchini
  cotyledons exert inhibition effect against the pathogen P. xanthii, reducing both disease symptoms and
  fungus sporulation. Once these effects will be verified on zucchini plants in a larger scale experiment, these
  extracts may provide a useful preventative tool to apply in environmentally- friendly disease management,
  reducing the potentially adverse environmental effects of hazardous pesticides.

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