Selective medium for isolation of Mycoleptodiscus terrestris from soil sediments of aquatic environments

A selective medium was developed for the dilution plate isolation of Mycoleptodiscus terrestris from natural soils and sediments from aquatic environments. The ingredients per liter of the selective medium are as follows: KH₂PO₄, 0.5 g; MgSO₄ · 7H₂O, 0.5 g; dextrose, 10.0 g; peptone, 5.0 g; chloramphenicol, 0.25 g; rose bengal, 50 mg; oxgall, 5.0 g; Terraclor (pentachloronitrobenzene, 75% active ingredients), 0.5 g; agar, 15.0 g. After autoclaving, the following ingredients were aseptically added: sorbic acid (0.7% autoclave-sterilized aqueous solution), 5.0 ml; Subdue (25.1% emulsion of metalaxyl), 0.5 ml; Truban (40.7% suspension of etridiazol), 0.05 ml. The colony-restrictive properties of this medium enabled its use in the drop plate method, originally developed for viable counts of bacteria. Alfalfa sprouts as baits were not suitable for quantitative recovery of the fungus, although 5% of alfalfa sprouts were infected with M. terrestris when incubated on soil containing 1.5 x 10² CFU/g.