Authors:
Nachaat Sakr
Volume 29, Issue 4;
Pages: 288-294; 2023
ISSN: 2069-0053 (print), Agroprint;
ISSN (online): 2068-9551
To develop an effective control strategy to defeat Fusarium head blight (FHB) disease, fungal isolates must be stored for long term. We then evaluated the survival, morphological and pathogenic stability of four pathogens stored as fungal suspensions (spores and hyphae) in sterile distilled water at 4°C after 96 months of preservation. It was observed that the tested 16 FHB isolates were viable after the different time points of storage (6, 12, 18, 24, 30, 36, 60, 90 and 96 months) with no morphological alteration and contamination by bacteria or other fungi. Survival was completely independent of the duration of storage. In addition, all isolates did not lose the infection ability, which could be an indicator of keeping their pathogenicity. All tested Fusarium isolates maintained the similar level of pathogenicity that they had prior to preservation. In general, there were no impacts on Fusarium radial growth, morphological characteristics and pathogenicity for all FHB isolates after 8 years of storage in cold water. These findings suggest that Castellani’s method is an inexpensive and easy technique for long-term storage of F. culmorum, F. verticillioides, F. solani and F. equiseti, and can be especially utilized in the creation of stock collections of limited resources.
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