EFFECT OF CULTURE MEDIA ON MYCELIAL GROWTH AND SPORULATION OF TWO ISOLATES OF Alternaria solani, THE CAUSAL AGENT OF EARLY BLIGHT DISEASE OF TOMATO

Sporulation of Alternaria solani (Ellis and Martin) Jones and Grout, can be scarce and is often reduced when the fungus is cultivated in- vitro. An experiment was conducted to assess the effect of culture media on mycelial growth and sporulation of two isolates of A. solani namely Badr and Al-Tawfiqiyah, in-vitro. Badr isolate gave the highest mycelial linear growth when grown on potato dextrose agar (PDA) and V-8 media. However, it produced maximum yield of conidia on V-8 medium. Al-Tawfiqiyah isolate was best grown but least sporulated on S-medium and PDA. However, its maximum yield of spores was obtained on V-8 medium. Thus, V-8 medium was the best among all media tested for sporulation of both A. solani isolates.