Selection of methods for sterilization of C. purpurea sclerotia for isolation of rye biosecurity agents

Abstract

Winter rye is a traditionally cultivated grain crop that is susceptible to ergot, a serious disease of the Poaceae family, caused by C. purpurea. Along with agrotechnical, organizational, and economic methods, biological control of ergot in grain crops is one of the ways to combat this disease. To isolate C. purpurea hyperparasites in a pure culture, the optimal sterilization options were selected, which were to exclude the infection of ergot sclerotia with saprophytic microflora. Before sterilization, C. purpurea were additionally washed in the running water with the addition of SAS for an hour. 70% and 96% ethanol, bleaching agent “Belizna” (Whiteness) were used as sterilizing agents. The exposure time varied from 1 to 12 minutes. Sclerotia were cultivated on potato sucrose agar at 24 ° C. The options for sterilizing sclerotia for 10 and 12 minutes in the “Belizna” bleaching agent were recognized as the best.