COMPARISON OF SUBSTRATES FOR SPORULATION OF ALTERNARIA SOLANI UNDER LABORATORY CONDITIONS

Agar medium supplemented with V-8 is generally used for sporulation of Alternaria solani. Due to the unavailability of V-8 medium in many countries specifically in Iran finding alternative substrates is desirable. The purpose of the present investigation was to explore alternative media. The result indicated that extracts of tomato leaf, potato leaf and tomato fruit were comparable to V-8 agar for sporulation of A.solani, while tomato paste was not as effective. In addition, using 12 h photoperiod significantly increased A. solani sporulation in camparison to full darkness or full light treatment.