Influence of combined environmental parameters on survival of the biocontrol agent Penicillium oxalicum 212 in different soil types

Abstract: In order to optimize the practical application of Penicillium oxalicum strain 212 as abiological soil treatment, and to achieve an optimal biocontrol efficacy, it is essential tounderstand how the physical environment (temperature, water availability and soil texture)influences the biocontrol agents’ growth and survival. The combined method, i.e., the counting ofcolony forming units (CFU) on semi-selective medium and quantitative real-time PCR (qPCR),used in this work are useful for tracking PO212 in different soil types. PO212 grew in all studiedsoils, temperatures and water potentials, although its growth was better in soil with low wateravailability than in those soils with medium and high water availability.