Received: 11th March 2019; Accepted: 23rd April 2019

Abstract

False smut of rice is caused by Ustilaginoidea virens (Cke.) Tak. [teleomorph: Villosiclava virens (Nakata) Tanaka & Tanaka] has emerged an important grain disease causing significant yield losses in major rice producing states of India. In the present study, false smut pathogen was successfully isolated from the infected smut balls and pathogenicity of U. virens was proved in BPT-5204 by artificial inoculation of conidial suspension (2 x 105 conidia) during booting stage. Growth of Ustilaginoidea virens (CG-1 isolate) was evaluated in different media, wherein Potato Sucrose Agar (PSA) medium recorded the maximum growth (with a growth rate of around 2.12 mm/day) and minimal growth was recorded in Czapek‘s Dox Agar medium. Among the natural substrates tested for mass multiplication, rice and barley grains supported maximum growth of the pathogen. The temperature viz., 550 C, 600 C and 650 C affected the germination of chlamydospores.