Verticillium dahliae and Phytophthora drechsleri are important soil borne pathogens which cause severe damages on almond (Prunus dulcis, Rosaceae) trees. Endophytic and rhizospheric fungi may be promising biocontrol agents, which could be applied against these destructive phytopathogens. However, scarce information is presently available regarding the endophytic and rhizospheric fungal communities of trees, especially almond. Thus, the present study for the first time was focused on investigating several endophytic and rhizospheric fungi from almond trees with the aim of evaluating their plant growth promotion and biocontrol potential against V. dahliae and P. drechsleri. Fifty-nine isolates were successfully obtained of which 26 isolates were selected based on colony morphologies. Antagonistic reactions between the isolates and the pathogens were tested using the dual culture method. The growth enhancement potential of the endophytes and rhizospheric fungi was also investigated for lentil and wheat seeds. The findings revealed that the rhizospheric isolates showed higher biological activities as compared to endophytic isolates (p≤0.05). The KoA1 isolate (identified as Aspergillus awamori) obtained from rhizosphere significantly prevented the P. drechsleri and V. dahliae growth. In addition, the KoA9 isolate (identified as Paraconiothyrium flavescens) obtained from rhizosphere significantly increased root and shoot growth of wheat seeds. The data presented revealed the potential of rhizospheric fungi of almond trees on increasing the growth of monocots, as well as their effect as biocontrol agents against fungal pathogens in vitro, which needs future in vivo investigations.

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