Species Trigger Cultivar-Specific Responses to Wilt in Tomato.

The endophytic fungi and have recently gained increasing attention due to their beneficial effects on plant growth and plant health. Little is known about other species, such as and . To test their biocontrol and growth-promoting potential, susceptible and tolerant tomato cultivars (Kremser Perle and Micro-Tom, respectively) were inoculated with , or and challenged with the soilborne pathogen f. sp. () in greenhouse experiments. Furthermore, in vitro assays on the direct inhibitory effects of spp. against were performed. Negative effects of on phenological growth in the susceptible cultivar were alleviated by all four applied spp. Apart from these similar effects on biometric parameters, disease incidence was only reduced by and . In the tolerant cultivar, disease parameters remained unaffected although shoot dry mass was negatively affected by . Direct effects of spp. against were not evident in the in vitro assays indicating an indirect effect via the host plant. Our results highlight the importance of identifying cultivar-specific effects in pathogen-endophyte-plant interactions to determine the most beneficial combinations.