Silicon dioxide and Bacillus subtilis applied in controlling wheat diseases

Abstract

Wheat is a crop that has high production; however, one of the limitations in planting is the presence of diseases, with the gibberella (Gibberella zeae) and yellow spot (Drechslera tritici-repentis) among them. Thus, the objective of this study was to evaluate the potential of fungicides based on strobilurins, silicon dioxide (SiO2) and B. subtilis in controlling these diseases in wheat. The used treatments for all the experiments were: T1-SiO2; T2-B. subtilis; T3- SiO2 + B. subtilis; T4- trifloxystrobin + prothioconazole/trifloxystrobin + tebuconazole; T5-Control. For the field experiment, conducted in two locations, evaluations of the incidence of gibberella and yellow spot severity, crop agronomic characteristics and polyphenoloxidase (PPO) and phenylalanine ammonia-lyase (PAL) activities were carried out. According to the obtained results, the fungicides based on strobilurins and SiO2 reduced the severity of the yellow spot, increasing, on average, 10 g the weight of a thousand grains (WTG) and the activity of the PPO and PAL enzymes in both municipalities. Hence, SiO2 possibly activated the defense mechanisms of these plants disease severity.