Exploration of pathogenic and non-pathogenic fungi on alfalfa (Medicago 1 sativa L)

Abstract

The aimed of the experiment was to explore Pathogenic and Non-Pathogenic fungi isolated from Alfalfa (M. sativa L) plantation in the tropic area. Soil and root of diseased plant samples were collected from the Alfalfa plantation in Baturaden, Banyumas Municipal, Indonesia (7°18'57.10"S; 109°14'1.29"E). Its location is about 650-1000 m above the sea level. The rainfall average is about 4,000 mm annually with the daily temperature is ranging between 15-25oC. Samples
rd were taken on the 23 of July 2009. Fungi were isolated from both soil and root samples. Soil were crushed into small pieces and put on the Potato Dextrose Agar (PDA) media on plate directly. The root of diseased plant samples was rinsed in water, cut into small pieces (± 2 cm) and put on the same plate of media of soil sample. All plates were incubated in the room temperature for about 24-48 hours. Each fungus that grew on the plate then was separated by planting on a new media and incubated in the room temperature for about 24-48 hours. Purification has been done for each plate contained only one fungus. Six species: Aspergillus sp., Cuninghammela sp., Eupenicillium sp., Pythium sp., Trichoderma sp., and Vertilicium sp. were identified during the experiment. All of the identified isolates then were tested pathogenically. Experiment resulted that one species (Pythium sp.) was
identified as a pathogenic fungus and others were non-pathogenic fungi.