VIEW ARTICLE

Techniques

Production and Storage of Inoculum of Cercospora kikuchii for Field Studies. C. D. Boyette, Assistant professor, Center for Alluvial Plains Studies, Delta State University, Cleveland, MS 38733; H. L. Walker, Research plant pathologist, Southern Weed Science Laboratory, U.S. Department of Agriculture, S & E, Stoneville, MS 38776. Phytopathology 75:183-185. Accepted for publication 6 September 1984. This article is in the public domain and not copyrightable. It may be freely reprinted with customary crediting of the source. The American Phytopathological Society, 1985. DOI: 10.1094/Phyto-75-183.

A procedure is described for granulating mycelial inoculum of Cercospora kikuchii by dropwise addition of homogenized mixtures of sodium alginate, kaolin clay, and mycelium into a 0.25 M CaCl₂ solution. After 6 mo under refrigeration, the granular preparations produced profuse viable, infective conidia when air-dried granules were rehydrated and exposed to irradiation from sunlamps (10 min/12 hr) at 25 C. An average of 3.8 x 10⁶ conidia were produced per gram of air-dried granules of four isolates of C. kikuchii. This technique should prove useful for storage and production of large quantities of inoculum when needed for field evaluation of disease resistance and fungicide evaluation.