Identification and characterization of ripe chilli fruit rot pathogen

Abstract

Chilli (Capsicum annum L.) fruits showing typical anthracnose symptoms of sunken necrotic lesions with black dot like acervuliin concentric rings collected from Research Farm, ICAR- IIVR, Varanasi. Infected fruits were examined under a microscope and small pieces of infected tissue were inoculated on potato dextrose agar (PDA). The inoculated Petri plates were incubated at 28°C ±1°C for 7 days. Pure culture of the pathogen isolate was established on PDA by hyphal tip method. Under light microscope, one-celled, smooth walled hyline falcate, tapered ended conidia (16-26 × 3-4 µm) and acervuli were recorded. On the basis of macroscopic and microscopic features of the pathogen colony and on the basis of their habitat and size of acervuli and conidia of chilli fruit rot causing pathogen was identified as Colletotrichum capsici. Colletotrichum sp. is an anamorphicfungal genera ranking8thamong top ten most important fungal plant pathogens in the world.In this respect this documentation will be play important role for better understanding of the pathogen and formulation of diseasemanagement strategies for prevention of pre and post- harvest crop losses under changing climatic scenario