Fusarium Virulence Assay on Wheat and Barley Seedlings

Materials and Reagents

1. Fungal strains
   
2. 25% Campbell`s V8 juice (pH 6.5 with NaOH)
3. 1.2% agar plates (9 cm diameter)
   
4. Wheat and barley seeds
   
5. Sterilizing solution (0.64% sodium hypochlorite - 10% ethanol)
   
6. Sterile deionized water
   

Equipment

1. Petri dishes (9 and 14 cm diameter)
   
2. Filter paper (Whatman No.3, 8 and 12.5 cm diameter)
   
3. Pipette tip or cork borer
   
4. Sealing film (Phyto Technology Laboratories) or parafilm
   
5. Ruler
   
6. Razor blades
   
7. Laminar flowhood
   
8. Illuminated incubator at 21 ± 1 °C, light intensity > 90 μmols
   
9. Fungal growth cabinet with white (one 18 W lamp) and black fluorescent (one 18 W lamp) lights on 12/12 h day/night cycle at 20-22 °C
10. Incubator
    

Procedure