A standard soil fungus may assist farmers cut back their reliance on artificial fungicides, new analysis suggests, by producing pure airborne chemical compounds that suppress devastating plant illnesses.
Scientists at Rothamsted Analysis, together with companions on the universities of Warwick and Exeter, have discovered that Trichoderma hamatum — a fungus already identified to guard vegetation — releases unstable natural compounds (VOCs) that inhibit the expansion of crop pathogens. In laboratory checks, these pure vapours stalled the advance of Sclerotinia sclerotiorum, a mould accountable for rot in crops reminiscent of lettuce, beans and oilseed rape.
The research1 confirmed that when T. hamatum was grown alongside S. sclerotiorum, the interplay triggered a surge in VOC manufacturing, with the very best ranges occurring after 17 days. A number of of the recognized chemical compounds, together with 1-octen-3-one, proved in a position to halt not solely S. sclerotiorum but additionally different damaging fungi reminiscent of Botrytis cinerea (gray mould), Pyrenopeziza brassicae (gentle leaf spot) and Gaeumannomyces tritici (take-all illness in wheat).
The findings counsel that such pure compounds could possibly be developed right into a extra sustainable various to standard fungicides, that are dealing with growing regulatory restrictions within the UK and Europe.
Dr Jozsef Vuts, one of many co-authors of the research, stated, “Additional work is required to grasp how these fungal VOCs function in real-world farming situations, and whether or not they are often harnessed successfully at scale. However the discovery gives recent hope for greener crop safety at a time when agriculture is beneath strain to chop chemical inputs.
Notes
[1]Thomas, G. A., J. Vuts, D. M. Withall, et al. 2025. “Inducible Risky Chemical Signalling Drives Antifungal Exercise of Trichoderma hamatum GD12 Throughout Confrontation With the Pathogen Sclerotinia sclerotiorum.” Environmental Microbiology Experiences 17, no. 5: e70192. https://doi.org/10.1111/1758-2229.70192
