Isolation and characterization of the grain mold fungi Cochliobolus and Alternaria spp. from sorghum using semiselective media and DNA sequence analyses.

Mold diseases, caused by fungal complexes including Alternaria, Cochliobolus, and Fusarium species, limit sorghum grain production. Media were tested by plating Fusarium thapsinum, Alternaria sp., and Curvularia lunata, individually and competitively. Dichloran chloramphenicol rose bengal (DRBC) and modified V8 juice (ModV8) agars, found to be useful, were compared with commonly used agar media, dichloran chloramphenicol peptone (DCPA) and pentachloronitrobenzene (PCNB). Radial growth, starting with mycelia or single-conidia and hyphal tips, demonstrated an effect of media. For isolation of grain fungi, DRBC and ModV8 were similar or superior to DCPA and PCNB. When seedlings were inoculated with conidia of C. lunata, Alternaria sp., F. thapsinum, or mixtures, the percentage of root infection ranged from 28% to 77%. For mixed inoculations, shoot weights, lesion lengths, and percentage of root infections were similar to F. thapsinum inoculations; most colonies recovered from roots were F. thapsinum. For Alternaria grain isolates, 5 morphological types, including Alternaria alternata, were distinguished by colony morphologies and conidial dimensions. Sequence analysis using a portion of the endo-polygalacturonase gene was able to further distinguish isolates. Cochliobolus isolates were identified morphologically as C. lunata, Curvularia sorghina, and Bipolaris sorghicola. Multiple molecular genotypes were apparent from rRNA internal transcribed spacer region sequences from Cochliobolus grain isolates.