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High moisture content of the host tissue (≤ 88%) and low ambient r.h. (50-54%) favoured oospore formation under controlled environments. It took 14-16 days for oospores to develop; thereafter the number of oospores increased with time and decreased with moisture content of host tissue. High ambient r.h. (> 80%) did not favour oospore formation under field or controlled conditions. Oospore formation was detected in inoculated plants grown in the field when the ambient r.h. declined to ≤ 74% and moisture content of host tissue decreased to 83.7-85.6%. It took 8 days (cv. Kufri Chandramukhi) to 13 days (cv. Kufri Jyoti and Kufri Badshah) for oospores to develop. Cultivars also differed in their response to oospore production, cv. Kufri Chandramukhi being more responsive (4800 oospores g -1 f wt) than cv. Kufri Jyoti and Kufri Badshah (1320 and 390 oospores g -1 f wt respectively). Oospores produced in vitro remained viable when buried in soil in the temperate highlands of Himachal Pradesh and sub-tropical plains of Uttar Pradesh, India for more than 150 days, i.e. beginning of the next crop season. The oospores germinated and initiated late blight infection at the base of the stems after 21-30 days of incubation of the potato plants raised in oospore-infested soil. It took 2 days for newly formed oospores to germinate and this delay time increased to 75-77 days after 180-days burial. It took 15 days for their germination (47%) in soil extract as compared to 50 days in sterilised distilled water.

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Sclerotinia sclerotiorum (Lib.) de Bary is a soil borne pathogen capable of infecting more than 400 host plants worldwide. It is a major pathogen that plays a crucial role in reducing the yield in economically important crops. The capability of sclerotia to survive for more than 4 years becomes very difficult to manage the crop from the infection of Sclerotinia rot fungus. Stem rot of indian mustard [Brassica juncea (L.) Czern and Cross] caused by Sclerotinia sclerotiorum is potentially a serious threat in many mustard growing areas in India. Treatments of seeds and foliar spray with of fungicides applied at regular intervals are effective in reducing infection, but uses of chemicals are hazardous, harmful for beneficial micro-organisms. Biological control of plant pathogens offers an exciting opportunity to manage plant diseases. In the present study, the efficacy of four bio-agents, viz., Coniothyrium minitans, Aspergilus nidulans, Trichoderma harzianum, and Pseudomonas chlororaphis were evaluated for the control of stem rot of Indian mustard. Results on bio-efficacy of different bioagents, when evaluated under glass house condition, the Coniothyrium minitans was the most effective agent and caused highest reduction (64.7 %) in carpogenic germination of sclerotia followed by Aspergilus nidulans (52.5 %) and Trichoderma harzianum (48.8 %), over control while Pseudomonas chlororaphis (48.3 %) was at par with T. harzianum. All the bioagents showed significant reduction effective in controlling the disease. Similar results were achieved when bioagents tested on dual inoculated plates.

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