Evaluation of the gelatin technique for the preservation of phytopathogenic fungi

Abstract

The preservation methods for fungi have great importance in ex situ collections, representing important biological heritage, useful for mycologists and plant pathologists in several scientific works. However, there is a lack of studies for a suiTable and efficient preservation method for the different groups of fungi. Although, the most appropriate is the one that maintain, even after long periods, the original characteristics of culture: viability, sporulation and pathogenicity, excluding mutations and undesirable contamination. The choice will depend of the laboratory infrastructure, microorganism, objectives, preferences and knowledge of the researcher. We conducted this study inside the Laboratory of Mycology and Plant Protection (LAMIP) in UFU (Universidade Federal de Uberlândia), localized in Uberlândia (MG), Brazil. The objective was to evaluate the gelatin preservation method (17 cultures), never used before for phytopathogenic fungi. Other classical methods were concomitantly evaluated, such as sterile soil (68 cultures), resistant structures (Sclerotinia sclerotiorum) in 4°C (10 strains) and mineral oil (31 cultures). We examined the time for maintaining the viability, sporulation and colonization in host tissues preserved in different dates. The gelatin method remained viability in 10 cultures; this method is suiTable for preservation of the genera and species: Colletotrichum spp., Septoria spp., Fusarium spp., F. moniliforme var. subglutinans, Macrophomina spp., Phomopsis spp. and Verticillium spp. The viability remained in 38 strains of sterile soil, three of mineral oil, and one strain of sclerotia reached a maximum preservation time in 4°C of four years.