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ARS Home » Southeast Area » Stuttgart, Arkansas » Dale Bumpers National Rice Research Center » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #306813
Title: Purification, storage, and pathogenicity assay of rice false smut fungus under controlled environmental conditions

Author
item Jia, Yulin
item EL-SHAFEY, RABIE - Rice Research And Training Center
item ZHANG, ZHEN - Zhejiang Academy Of Agricultural Sciences

Submitted to: APS Annual Meeting
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 8/8/2014
Publication Date: 8/9/2014
Citation: Jia, Y., El-Shafey, R., Zhang, Z. 2014. Purification, storage, and pathogenicity assay of rice false smut fungus under controlled environmental conditions. American Phytopathological Society Annual Meeting. Published on-line. p 53.

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Rice false smut, caused by Ustilaginoidea virens, is serious disease that affects grain yield and quality. In the present study, a method to purify, store, and evaluate pathogenicity of U. virens under controlled environmental conditions was developed. Yellow chlamydospores were collected from fresh smut balls, cultured on a potato sucrose agar (PSA) plate, and incubated for seven days at room temperature (22-24°C). Single chlamydospores were visually identified and transferred to a 1.8 mL cryovial with 0.9 mL PSA and allowed to grow for seven days at room temperature. An equal volume of 60% glycerol was added to the cryovial for permanent storage at -80°C. For the pathogenicity assay, a section approximately 2-3 mm was removed from the cryovial and grown on a PSA plate for 7-10 days. Then a piece of agar with fungus was extracted from the plate, placed in liquid wheat bran media, and incubated at room temperature for 7 days with gentle shaking. Spores were filtered through four layers of cheese cloth and were re-suspended in sterilized distilled H2O. The spore concentration was adjusted to 1x106 spores/mL with sterilized distilled water. Rice plants at the booting stage were inoculated by injecting the spore suspension at the tip of the rice sheath via a syringe. After inoculation, plants were maintained in a plastic growth chamber with high humidity for seven days and then moved to a greenhouse for an additional two weeks. Typical smut symptoms ranging from silver white to yellow to dark-green on the infected grains were observed. Details of this assay will be presented.