Isolation and characterization of Fusarium oxysporum, a wilt causing fungus, for its pathogenic and non-pathogenic nature in tomato (Solanum lycopersicum)

Abstract

Collection of soil and plant samples from nine different geographical locations in Uttar Pradesh state of India was made. Composite soil was analyzed for its nutrient status. A total of sixty isolates of Fusarium species were recovered from the soil and plant samples. Among these, thirty nine isolates were identified as Fusarium oxysporum on the basis of their morphological and molecular identification. The pathogenicity test was conducted on tomato variety Pant T-3, disease incidence ranged from zero to 78.74%. Among F. oxysporum isolates, five were non pathogenic and three were found strongly pathogenic.Non-pathogenic isolates were tested for their antagonistic effect against most pathogenic isolates of F. oxysporum. The results showed that the Isolate no. 40 showed the highest antagonistic activity in inhibiting radial growth of pathogenic isolates.