The occurrence and biotic activity of Phomopsis diachenii Sacc.

Phomopsis diachenii was isolated from caraway cultivars Konczewicki, firstly in 2006 and next in 2007. Single cultures were obtained from the roots and the stem base of eight six-week-old seedlings and from the stems of two plants with symptoms of necrosis, in the second year of planting. This fungus was isolated from the plant parts superficially disinfected on malt agar medium with an addition 0.01% of streptomycin. The identification of the species was made on PDA medium. The biotic interactions between P. diachenii and S. carvi and other species of phyllosphere fungi of caraway were studied. Interactions among the fungi, i.e. between P. diachenii and one of the fungi representing the studied community, were examined using the biotic series method. The biotic effects of the fungi in dual cultures were evaluated after 10 and 20 days of common growth and were expressed as the individual biotic effect (IBE). It was shown that P. diachenii is a weak competitor because its growth was limited by numerous species of phyllosphere fungi. The obtained results indicated the dominance of biotic activity of P. diachenii over that of S. carvi. It is possible that P. diachenii has a greater ability to survive in the phyllosphere fungal community than S. carvi, causing septoriosis of caraway.