Lentinula edodes ("shiitake" mushroom) is a fungus that presents nutritional, medicinal and antibiotic properties. Valuable compounds have been isolated from the fruiting bodies and from mycelium growth filtrates. The present work had as objectives the evaluation of the effect of L. edodes preparations on two sorghum pathogens, Exserohilum turcicum and Colletotrichum sublineolum, as well as the protection of sorghum plants against those fungi. When in vitro studies were carried out, aqueous extracts from the whole fruiting bodies and also from fruiting body parts, cap and stem, reduced the mycelium growth and the spore germination of the plant pathogens, while the antifungal activity of L. edodes´s mycelium growth filtrate was less pronounced. The shiitake preparations did not induce phytoalexin accumulation in sorghum mesocotyls. Aqueous extracts from fruiting bodies and lentinan partially reduced disease severity caused by E. turcicum in the cv. Brandes and by C. sublineolum in the cv. Tx-398-B, when applied 48 hours before plant inoculation. Therefore, L. edodes exhibits potential as a biological control agent or as a model for the synthesis of fungicidal compounds.
Lentinula edodes; antibiosis; Exserohilum turcicum; Colletotrichum sublineolum; Sorghum bicolor
