Combining biocontrol agents with different mechanisms of action in a strategy to control Botrytis cinerea on grapevine

The use of several microbial biocontrol agents to combat Botrytis cinerea, the causal agent of grey mould, has been studied. However, only a few microorganisms have been developed as biofungicides, which are currently used in some countries, mostly in organic farming. The main reason for the limited market uptake of microbial biofungicides is their debated variable efficacy. To cope with poor survival in the canopy, due to unfavourable environmental conditions or their intrinsic lower level of disease control compared to synthetic chemical fungicides, use of a mixture of two or more microorganisms with different environmental requirements and mechanisms of action has been proposed with contrasting results. However, their use in strategies involving calculated timing of the microbial biocontrol agents, taking into consideration their mechanism of action in relation to the epidemiology and pathogenesis of the disease, has never been attempted in relation to combating grey mould on grapes. The results of four years of trials in three locations in Northern and Central Italy show that Trichoderma atroviride, Aureobasidium pullulans and Bacillus subtilis, applied at bunch-closure, veraison and pre-harvest, respectively, controlled B. cinerea on bunches very satisfactorily, and the results did not differ from those obtained with a strategy combining the three biofungicides, applied at the aforementioned stages. Colonisation of berries by each of the different microbial biocontrol agents at harvest time did not differ for individual treatments or when applied in the combined strategy, suggesting that the microorganisms did not negatively interfere with each other and that they may possibly occupy different ecological niches. The high level of efficacy of the tested biocontrol agents against grey mould can be explained with the relatively low-medium level of the disease, their integration with agronomic practices or the optimal timing of the treatment.