PHYTOPHTHORA INFESTANS: ISOLATION OF PURE CULTURES, STORAGE AND INOCULUM PREPARATION

Sylwester Sobkowiak

s.sobkowiak@ihar.edu.pl
Plant Breeding and Acclimatization Institute – National Research Institute,Młochów Research Center, Platanowa Str. 19, 05-831 Młochów, Poland (Poland)

Jadwiga Śliwka

Plant Breeding and Acclimatization Institute – National Research Institute,Młochów Research Center, Platanowa Str. 19, 05-831 Młochów, Poland (Poland)

Abstract

Phytophthora infestans causes potato and tomato late blight, economically the most important disease of these plant species. The Oomycete pathogen is frequently sampled, isolated to pure cultures, stored, and char-acterized. The knowledge of its diversity, migrations and evolution is essential for breeding resistant plants and for designing appropriate control strategies. The article presents methods for collection, storage and prep-aration of P. infestans isolates for inoculation of plant tissues, based on the publication by Zarzycka (2001), later updated and modified.

Keywords:

cryopreservation, isolate, late blight, potato, rye B agar medium