English

Abstract

Sclerotium rolfsii is a ubiquitous soil-borne fungal pathogen known to cause disease on worldwide range of agricultural and horticultural crops. In spite of economic loss caused by this pathogen, very few reports were available on this aspect, biochemical characterization of the S. rolfsii; hence the present study was under taken to study the biochemical characterization of S. rolfsii. Qualitative and quantitative analysis of free and protein-bound amino acids was carried out in mycelial mats and culture filtrate of S. rolfsii. Five amino acids were identified and were common both in free and protein-bound amino acids. Methionine was the most abundantly occurring amino acid in the protein-bound amino acids, whereas asparagine in case of free amino acids. Eleven amino acids were detected in the culture filtrate, but methionine, phenylalanine and leucine/isoleucine were more abundant. Phenolic acids both in culture filtrate and mycelia mat were analyzed by 2-dimensional paper chromatography; seven were detected both in culture filtrate and mycelial mat. Gallic, ferulic, chlorogenic and cinnamic acids were common both in mycelium and culture filtrate of the S. rolfsii. The other biochemical constituents like carbohydrate fractions, phenolic compounds and nitrogen fractions present in both mycelia mat and culture filtrate were also studied. Key words: Sclerotium rolfsii, stem rot, biochemical constituents, amino acids, phenolic acids.