Isolation and Characterization of Pathogenic Fungi from Vitis Vinifera from the Historical Site Agra Fort

Abstract

Vitis vinifera or common grape vine is familiar enough to the human race owing to its industrial importance. This plant can survive for 350-400 years. The plant under consideration is a historical one because wine has been extracted from this plant since the period of the Mughal emperor Jahangir in 1630. In medieval India, under the rule of the Mughals, the city of Agra flourished. The Mughals continued to live in the Agra Fort for years where they had a unique vineyard in the name of Anguri Bagh built by Jahangir in 1630. In the present day, the sole remnants happen to be one or two plants, which too are badly infected with pathogenic fungi. Three such detached leaves were collected and the organism isolated was found to be Guignardia sp. Characters on the basis of reproductive structures were established, as well as the SPM (suspended particulate matter) count was determined and compared with the control, which indicated substantial air pollution. Fungicide bioassay was performed and the reduction in percentage germination and germ tube length on application of the fungicide was 14.49% and 24.14 μm respectively in absence of sugar, and 88.46% and 9.8 μm respectively in presence of sugar.