Organic Rice Rhizosphere Fungi Produce Cellulose and Chitinase as a Biological Control Agent Lilis Minarseh, Tutik Kuswinanti, Andi Nasruddin
Plant Protection Study Program, Faculty of Agriculture, Hasanuddin University. Perintis Kemerdekaan Km. 10 Makassar, South Sulawesi, Indonesia, 90245.
Abstract
The resilience and security of food crops is a challenge in the agricultural sector in order to produce quality and healthy food products for consumption by the community. The use of synthetic fungicides to induce plant resistance has a negative impact on the abundance and diversity of biological agents, disrupts ecosystem functions and affects the safety and quality of agricultural production. Cellulase enzymes and chitinase enzymes are lytic enzymes in biological agents fordegrade the cell walls of pathogenic fungi in plants. The use of biological agents to control plant pathogens does not cause plant resistance to disease and does not leave chemical residues that pollute the environment. This study aims to isolate organic rice rhizosphere fungi and test the ability to produce cellulase enzymes and chitinase enzymes as candidates for biological agents in plant pathogens. Isolating the rice rhizosphere fungus using the spread plate method, while the isolate producing cellulase enzymes using Carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) growing media and testing isolates producing chitinase enzymes using planting media with shrimp shell added as an indicator of chitin, each of these media was used to determine the potential of fungi capable of producing enzymes tested through a hydraulic process. The results showed that the organic rice rhizosphere fungus had cellulase and chitinase enzyme activities, namely Penicillum sp. the Hydrolysis capacity (HC) index of the cellulase enzyme was 1.70 mm and the HC index of the chitinase enzyme was 1.19 mm, Gliocladium sp. the HC index of the cellulase enzyme was 1.51 mm and the HC index of the chitinase enzyme was 1.10 mm, Aspergillus sp. the HC index of the cellulase enzyme was 1.10 mm and the HC index of the chitinase enzyme was 1.04 mm, while Trichoderma sp. the HC index of the cellulase enzyme was obtained 1.03 mm and the HC index of the chitinase enzyme is 1.02 mm. The results of this study indicate that isolates of rhizosphere fungi isolated from organic rice have the potential to be further developed as biological agents for controlling pathogens in food crops in Indonesia.
