MORPHOLOGICAL CHARACTERIZATION OF FALSE SMUT OF RICE (Ustilaginoidea virens) IN TAMIL NADU

The rice false smut caused by Ustilaginoidea virens (perfect stage = Villosiclava virens) is a serious threat to rice production. The lab experiment was conducted during the year 2021 in Tamil Nadu under in-vitro conditions to investigate the pathogen and its character. On PSA medium the colony was creamy white to white, flat, circular and raised. The fluffy, compact, leathery hyaline mycelium showed septation and the width of the mycelia was about 4.26 μm. On the obverse side of the Petri plate, a slight olive-green tinch was observed. The colony diameter ranged from 30 mm to 70 mm. Conidia were hyaline, spherical to globose in shape and warty with a width of 5.24 μm approximately. The chlamydospores were echinulated and spines were prominently decorated. Overall, the results of the investigation showed that the collected isolates of false smut were confirmed based on morphological characteristics.