Background: Gramineae damping-off disease is a growing problem worldwide, which affects a large range of seedlings in nurseries, glasshouses, gardens, crops, forests and untimely generates a heavy economic impact on the agriculture and related sectors. Objectives: The present study was conducted to evaluate the preventive potential of carvacrol on germination of Fusarium oxysporum, Neocosmospora solani, and Microdochium nivale spores as responsible agents for Lolium perenne seeds damping-off disease. Material and methods: Macrodilution method in agar medium, spore germination, spore destruction, and preventive treatment bioassays were used to achieve this goal. Results: The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of carvacrol vs. tested strains existed in the range of 0.25–0.5 mg/mL. Carvacrol used in concentrations ranging from 0.2 to 0.4 mg/mL inhibited the germination of all fungal spores in a dose-dependent manner. Carvacrol showed a very strong sporicidal effect against all studied fungal strains, and this effect was well confirmed by microscopic observations. The percentage of growth inhibition was found to be strictly correlated to carvacrol dose up vs. all strains. Carvacrol increased the emergence of L. perenne seeds when compared to both uninfested and infested seeds. Conclusion: Based on the results obtained, carvacrol fulfills the requirement for being a natural alternative agent to fight Gramineae seedlings’ damping-off caused by fungal species without adverse effects on the plants.

Open access peer-reviewed chapter

Introduction: Various systemic and enteric diseases have been attributed to C. perfringens , including healthcare-associated infections and intoxications. Humans and animals are thus exposed to serious health risks from these bacteria. Infections caused by these antibiotic-resistant bacteria are becoming an increasing concern. Bacteriophages (phages), which possess specific lytic activity, offer a viable alternative for the treatment of Clostridium perfringens . Methods: In this study, a novel lytic C. perfringens phage designed as CpP_VarHS was isolated from wastewater and targeted the host C. perfringens type A ATCC 13124. The phage was then characterized using Transmission Electron Microscope (TEM), molecular sequencing, and bioinformatics tools. Results: Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) analysis revealed that CpP_VarHS possesses a short, non-contractile tail (31.55 ± 2.5 nm in length) and a regular icosahedral head (44.23 ± 2.1 nm in diameter), characteristic of the podovirus morphotype. Whole-genome analysis showed that the CpP_VarHS genome is 17,814 bp long, linear double-stranded DNA with a GC content of 28.30%. Among the 21 identified open reading frames, 12 were functional genes (GenBank accession number PP973485). Whole-genome sequence comparison showed 94.37% and 94.31% nucleotide identity with Clostridium phage vB_CpeP_HN02 and Clostridium phage CPS1. No tRNA, bacterial virulence gene, lysogenic gene, or antibiotic resistance gene was identified in the genome of CpP_VarHS. Phylogenetic analysis indicated that phage CpP_VarHS represents a novel species within the genus Gregsiragusavirus of the family Guelinviridae . Conclusion: To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of the isolation of a C. perfringens phage in Türkiye. In conclusion, these findings suggested that phage CpP_VarHS has promising potential for preventing and controlling C. perfringens .