Five commercial composts were evaluated to suppress the root-rot pathogens (Fusarium solani (Mart.) App. and Wr, Pythium ultimum Trow, Rhizoctonia solani Kuhn, and Sclerotium rolfsii Sacc.) of cucumber plants under in vitro and greenhouse conditions. In vitro tests showed that all tested unautoclaved and unfiltrated composts water extracts (CWEs) had inhibitor effect against pathogenic fungi, compared to autoclaved and filtrated ones. Also, the inhibitor effects of 40 bacteria and 15 fungi isolated from composts were tested against the mycelial growth of cucumber root-rot pathogens. Twenty two bacteria and twelve fungal isolates had antagonistic effect against root-rot pathogens. The antagonistic fungal isolates were identified as 6 isolates belong to the genus Aspergillus spp., 5 isolates belong to the genus Penicillium spp. and one isolate belong to the genus Chaetomium spp. Under greenhouse conditions, the obtained results in pot experiment using artificial infested soil with cucumber root-rot pathogens showed that the compost amended soil reduced the percentage of disease incidence, pathogenic fungi population, and improved the cucumber vegetative parameters as shoot length, root length, fresh weight, and dry weight. These results suggested that composts are consequently considered as control measure against cucumber root-rot pathogens. 1. Introduction Fusarium solani, Pythium ultimum, Rhizoctonia solani, and Sclerotium rolfsii were considered the most important soilborne pathogens which cause cucumber root-rot disease [1–4]. Suppression of these plant pathogens is considered an urgent need for present agriculture practices. Therefore, the use of compost to suppress the root rot pathogens has been extensively reviewed by many workers [5–8]. Different mechanisms were suggested to explain the role of compost application to control soil-borne plant pathogens such as enhancement beneficial microorganisms which secrete lytic enzymes and antibiotic, containing microorganisms which competed for nutrients, or activation of disease-resistance genes (induce resistance) in plants [6, 9]. Moreover, compost suppressive effects against several soil-borne plant pathogens were recorded such as Pythium spp. [10, 11], Phytophthora spp. [6, 12], Rhizoctonia spp. [13], and Fusarium spp. [14]. Many studies revealed that Bacillus spp., Enterobacter spp., Pseudomonas spp., Streptomyces spp. and other bacterial genera, as well as Penicillium spp., Aspergillus spp., Trichoderma spp., Gliocladium virens, and other fungi, have been identified as biocontrol agents in
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