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Storage and Behavior in Soil of Septoria Species Isolated from Cereals. B. L. Shearer, R. J. Zeyen, and J. J. Ooka, Department of Plant Pathology, University of Minnesota, Saint Paul 55101 Phytopathology 64:163-167.

Twenty-four isolates of five Septoria spp. (S. avenae, S. avenae f. sp. triticea, S. nodorum, S. passerinii, and S. tritici) were stored in soil-spore preparations at 4C, in the dark, for more than 20 mo without loss of sporulating ability or pathogenicity.  The storage of single-spore isolates in sterilized soil minimized changes compared to those which may occur on nutrient agar, and was more convenient and reliable than previously described methods of Septoria storage.  Observations of fungal behavior during and follwing storage in sterilized soil were made using light microscopy and scanning-electron microscopy.  The behavior of the species during storage in sterilized soil mimicked their saprophytic behavior in dead leaf tissue.  Also, their growth from portions of soil-spore preparations incubated on nutrient agar, following storage, was the same as that following isolation from their respective hosts.