Potential of endophytic fungi collected from Cucurbita pepo roots grown under three different agricultural mulches as antagonistic endophytes to Verticillium dahliae in western Washington.

Verticillium dahliae is a significant pathogen in cucurbit cropping systems for which there are limited control options outside of soil fumigation. Endophytes, fungi and bacteria that live within plant hosts without impacting the host negatively, have exhibited antagonism to V. dahliae.