VIEW ARTICLE

Physiology and Biochemistry

Sporulation and Growth of Curvularia pallescens as Affected by Media, Temperature, and Nitrogen Sources. D. B. Olufolaji, Department of Agricultural Biology, University of Ibadan, Nigeria, Present address: Unilorin Sugar Research Institute, University of Ilorin, Nigeria ; Phytopathology 74:260-263. Accepted for publication 29 August 1983. Copyright 1984 The American Phytopathological Society. DOI: 10.1094/Phyto-74-260.

Sporulation on mycelial disks of Curvularia pallescens plated on agar media was optimum at 15 C, and water agar was a better medium than various nutrient agars. Asparagine and dl-aspartic acid were the best organic nitrogen sources for sporulation, and inorganic nitrogen sources were less favorable in liquid media. This same temperature was also optimum for sporulation on leaf tissue of the maize host. On the contrary, sporulation on plates directly seeded with spores was most abundant at 24 C, and malt extract agar and potato-dextrose agars were superior to water agar. Viability of the spores decreased with increase in culture age, and after 10 mo at 10 C the spores had totally lost viability. For growth in defined liquid culture, the order of preference of inorganic nitrogen sources was nitrate, ammonium, and nitrite. Glycine was utilized significantly better than any of the other organic or inorganic nitrogen sources tested. However, asparagine, arginine, and glutamic acid supported good mycelial growth while urea, tryptophane, and l-leucine were poor in this regard.