Abstract
This study explores the use of endophytic fungi for the biocontrol of harmful aflatoxins (AFTs) in maize (Zea mays L.). The main objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of fungal pathogens and biocontrol agents on the corn seed germination and growth of seedlings under controlled conditions. Experiments were conducted under laboratory conditions in a growth chamber and in a greenhouse to assess the influence of environmental factors on seed performance and treatment efficacy. The growth chamber provided uniform conditions for physiological assessment while the greenhouses represented more realistic field conditions. Corn kernels were sown in sterile pots inside the growth chamber at standard conditions or in the greenhouse at controlled conditions and four treatment groups were established: untreated control seeds, seeds treated with non-AFT-producing (non-aflatoxigenic) strains (Trichoderma harzianum, T. asperellum and Aspergillus niger), seeds inoculated with AFT-producing (aflatoxigenic) strains (A. flavus and A. parasiticus), and seeds co-inoculated with both aflatoxigenic and non-aflatoxigenic strains (A. flavus and A. parasiticus with T. harzianum, T. asperellum or A. niger). High-performance liquid chromatography was utilized to detect and analyze the presence of AFTs. Co-culturing of A. flavus with T. harzianum resulted in a significant decrease in AFT levels, achieving a relative reduction of 99.3% compared to aflatoxigenic treatments alone. Among the isolates tested, T. harzianum and T. asperellum were the most effective at lowering AFT production of the aflatoxigenic strains, reducing the 5120 ± 560 µg/kg AFT level produced by A. flavus alone to 50.1 ± 1.10 and 63.1 ± 3.1 µg/kg, respectively. A. flavus negatively affected germination and early growth, whereas T. harzianum significantly enhanced both parameters. This study demonstrates that non-aflatoxigenic Trichoderma isolates can effectively mitigate AFT contamination and improve seedling growth, highlighting their potential as effective. sustainable, and locally adopted biocontrol agents for Pakistan’s chronic AFT problem under diverse environmental conditions—an area with minimal prior research and high national relevance.
Abstract from the paper’s OpenAlex record; open copy licensed cc-by. Read at the source ↗
The text the model read, with the source record’s inline markup (italics, sub- and superscripts) rendered and its character entities decoded; quote offsets refer to the raw text.
Claims 5
Claim · model-written summary
Co-culturing Aspergillus flavus with Trichoderma harzianum significantly decreased aflatoxin levels, a relative reduction of 99.3% compared with aflatoxigenic treatments alone.
- Treatment
- Co-culturing of A. flavus with T. harzianume0
- Interactor
- A. flavus
Aspergillus flavuse0pathogen - Second interactor
- T. harzianum
Trichoderma harzianume0biocontrol_agent - Outcome
- AFT levelse0
- Direction
- decreasee0
- Value
- 99.3%e0
- Comparator
- aflatoxigenic treatments alonee0
Zea maysOrganisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
t0“Zea mays”
e0“Co-culturing of A. flavus with T. harzianum resulted in a significant decrease in AFT levels, achieving a relative reduction of 99.3% compared to aflatoxigenic treatments alone”
Claim · model-written summary
T. harzianum reduced the aflatoxin level produced by A. flavus alone from 5120 ± 560 µg/kg to 50.1 ± 1.10 µg/kg.
- Treatment
- T. harzianume0
- Interactor
- A. flavusAspergillus flavuse0pathogen
- Second interactor
- T. harzianumTrichoderma harzianume0biocontrol_agent
- Outcome
- AFT productione0
- Direction
- reducinge0
- Value
- 50.1 ± 1.10e0
- Qualifier
- 5120 ± 560 µg/kge0
- Comparator
- A. flavus alonee0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
t0“Zea mays”
e0“T. harzianum and T. asperellum were the most effective at lowering AFT production of the aflatoxigenic strains, reducing the 5120 ± 560 µg/kg AFT level produced by A. flavus alone to 50.1 ± 1.10 and 63.1 ± 3.1 µg/kg, respectively”
Claim · model-written summary
T. asperellum reduced the aflatoxin level produced by A. flavus alone from 5120 ± 560 µg/kg to 63.1 ± 3.1 µg/kg.
- Treatment
- T. asperellume0
- Interactor
- A. flavusAspergillus flavuse0pathogen
- Second interactor
- T. asperellum
Trichoderma asperellume0biocontrol_agent - Outcome
- AFT productione0
- Direction
- reducinge0
- Value
- 63.1 ± 3.1 µg/kge0
- Qualifier
- 5120 ± 560 µg/kge0
- Comparator
- A. flavus alonee0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
t0“Zea mays”
e0“T. harzianum and T. asperellum were the most effective at lowering AFT production of the aflatoxigenic strains, reducing the 5120 ± 560 µg/kg AFT level produced by A. flavus alone to 50.1 ± 1.10 and 63.1 ± 3.1 µg/kg, respectively”
Claim · model-written summary
Aspergillus flavus negatively affected maize germination and early growth.
- Treatment
- A. flavuse0
- Interactor
- A. flavusAspergillus flavuse0pathogen
- Outcome
- germination and early growthe0
- Direction
- negatively affectede0
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
t0“Zea mays”
e0“A. flavus negatively affected germination and early growth, whereas T. harzianum significantly enhanced both parameters”
Claim · model-written summary
Trichoderma harzianum significantly enhanced maize germination and early growth.
- Treatment
- T. harzianume0
- Interactor
- T. harzianumTrichoderma harzianume0biocontrol_agent
- Outcome
- germination and early growthe0
- Direction
- enhancede0
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
t0“Zea mays”
e0“A. flavus negatively affected germination and early growth, whereas T. harzianum significantly enhanced both parameters”
The same questions in other papers
Trichoderma harzianum · Aspergillus flavus · Zea mays (maize)Positive and negative results
1 paper in the same direction as this paper · 1 in the opposite direction
- negative
- positive
Aspergillus flavus · growth · Zea mays (maize)Positive and negative results
3 papers in the same direction as this paper · 2 in the opposite direction
- positive
- positive
- negative
2 papers more in this group
See all 6 papers →Trichoderma harzianum · growth · Zea mays (maize)Positive and negative results
17 papers in the same direction as this paper · 2 in the opposite direction
- no effect
- negative
- positive
16 papers more in this group
See all 20 papers →Trichoderma asperellum · Aspergillus flavus · Zea mays (maize)Results agree
1 paper in the same direction as this paper
- positive
Claims are grouped by organism, treatment and what was measured or targeted. A paper counts as positive when any of its claims in the group is positive.