Screening of cultural media for the growth of foliar fungal disease pathogens associated with aromatic rice

Abstract

Ten cultural media, namely Potato sucrose agar (PSA) medium, Potato dextrose agar (PDA) medium, Czapek’s dox agar medium, Corn starch agar medium, Oat meal agar (OMA) medium, Rice straw agar medium, Rice grain agar medium, Rice leaf extract agar medium, Malt extract agar medium, and V8 juice agar medium, were used to observe the growth of three fungal pathogens of aromatic rice, viz., Pyricularia oryzae, Bipolaris oryzae, and Rhizoctonia solani. The radial growth and colony characteristics were greatly influenced by the medium used. In a comparative study of the higher mycelial growth of the three test fungi at ten different mediums, the best performance was observed in rice straw medium (Pyricularia oryzae and Bipolaris oryzae) and in rice leaf agar medium (Rhizoctonia solani). These results will find use in further fungal taxonomic in vitro studies.