Phyllanthus Nutrient Agar (PNA) as an Alternative Culture Media for Colletotrichum Species

Abstract

Culture media or growth media is a medium to isolate and grow microorganisms such as fungal pathogens and bacteria. The identification of plant pathogen requires massive usage of culture media as this is the most common method for pathogen isolation and identification. In developing countries, the high cost of culture media supply has restricted many practical classes in certain institutions and limits the studies on scientific research. Besides, Potato Dextrose Agar (PDA), which is known as universal media for fungi isolation could inhibit spore production in some fungi due to its high nutrient content.  Colletotrichum spp. is the causal agent of anthracnose disease that widely infects tropical and subtropical crops such as chilli, black pepper, rubber, tomato and many more. The identification of Colletotrichum species often requires the observation of distinct morphological features, especially spore characteristics which may not be easily visible on nutrient-rich media like PDA. This study aims to evaluate the potential of a novel, cost-effective culture medium which is Phyllanthus Nutrient Agar (PNA) that formulated from Phyllanthus emblica (Indian gooseberry), a locally abundant and historically significant medicinal plant in Malaysia. The effectiveness of PNA as culture media for Colletotrichum species were compared with commercial culture media for plant pathogen which were Potato Dextrose Agar (PDA) and Tomato Juice Agar (TGA). The results indicated that two species of Colletotrichum namely Colletotrichum gloeosporioides and Colletotrichum truncatum were able to grow on PNA and the culture were suitable for morphological identification of the species. These findings suggest that PNA is a promising alternative culture medium for the isolation and study of Colletotrichum species which offering a sustainable and affordable option for fungi isolation and identification.