Effect of temperature on the mycelial growth of the fungus Sphaeropsis sapinea

Effect of temperature on mycelial growth was tested on 11 isolates from six pine species - P. nigra, P. sylvestris, P. halepensis, P. heldreichii, P. pinaster and P. pinea, originating from Serbia and Montenegro. The optimal temperature for mycelial growth of the fungus S. sapinea on potato-dextrose agar (PDA) and malt-extract agar (MEA) media was 28ºC. However, a very similar colony growth occurred also at 25ºC. The growth of all the tested isolates was better on PDA than on MEA. In addition to faster growth, on PDA the fungus showed the physiological activity in the wider temperature interval - between 4ºC and 40ºC. On MEA, all isolates grew in the temperature interval between 10ºC and 35ºC. However, colony formation or inoculum growth of a low number of isolates occurred also at 4ºC. The differences in growth among the isolates occurred only at the temperatures which are closer to cardinal