Potential use of spirulina platensis on biological control of bacterial wilt's of tomato

In this master thesis, the effect of potential use of Spirulina platensis as biological control agent against to bacterial wilt disease of tomato caused by the bacterium Clavibacter michiganensis subsp. michiganensis. Preliminary study was conducted by using Spirulina sp. purchased from the market and two individual experiments was carried out in greenhouse conditions with freshly harvested Spirulina platensis in the Faculty of Fisheries. The effect of Spirulina platensis on disease development, plant dry weight and total chlorophyll content of leaves was investigated. In the preliminary trial, in the soil treated with Spirulina sp. was suppressed the bacterial wilt's of tomato caused by Clavibacter michiganensis subsp. michiganensis by 28.12%. In the first and second experiments with Spirulina platensis, the disease incidence was inhibited by 88% and 81%, respectively. In Spirulina platensis treated soil, while the dry weight of diseased plants advanced at the ratios of 41%, 88% and 68%, amount of the dry matter in healthy plants was increased by 26%, 20% and 21%. The chlorophyll content in diseased and healthy plants was raised by 20% and 23%, respectively. Biofertilization of the soil by Spirulina platensis has increased the plant dry weight, chlorophyll content of the leaves and suppressed the disease development. This treatment can be considered as a new approach for bacterial wilt disease management in traditional and organic tomato farming. Spirulina applications with the minimized cost of production studies and applications of greenhouse or field trials will be widespread.