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A simple carrot agar medium for isolation of black root rot pathogen of cotton seedlings

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Abstract

Black root rot (BRR) is a major seedling disease in cotton in Australia. BRR is caused by a soilborne fungus Thielaviopsis basicola, recently re-described as Berkelyomyces spp., that was reported for the first time in 1990 in northern New South Wales (NSW), Australia. The disease is now prevalent across NSW. Since the first detection, much research has been focused exclusively on management; however, little has been investigated to understand the BRR pathogen population. Isolation and collection of pure fungal cultures are essential for investigation of the pathogen diversity and pathogenicity. However, isolation of T. basicola is recalcitrant. In this study, T. basicola were successfully recovered from BRR diseased cotton seedlings in the past three seasons by using a simple 5% carrot agar amended with 100 ppm streptomycin. T. basicola was recovered within three days with the percentage of recovery ranging from 55–76% during the first isolation attempt. This carrot medium provided a simple and vigorous means for isolation of T. basicola.

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Acknowledgements

This research was supported through funding from the Cotton Research and Development Corporation and NSW Department of Primary Industries (projects DAN2101 and DAQ2002). I greatly thank CottonInfo team for sampling assistance; and Aphrika Gregson from NSW DPI Narrabri for technical assistance. I specially thank Dr Bernie Dominiak from NSW DPI Orange for critically reviewing and commenting for the improvement of the manuscript.

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  1. New South Wales Department of Primary Industries, 2390, Narrabri, Australia

    Duy Phu Le

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  1. Duy Phu Le
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Correspondence to Duy Phu Le.

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Le, D.P. A simple carrot agar medium for isolation of black root rot pathogen of cotton seedlings. Australasian Plant Pathol. 50, 319–322 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13313-021-00775-3

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