Abstract:
The paper gives an account of the variations in nutritional and physiological characteristics found in
different isolates of Colletotrichum gloeosporioides causing anthracnose disease of papaya, in India. The
pathogen under study varied in its ability to utilize different carbon and nitrogen sources. Fructose was
found to be the best source of carbon for the growth and sporulation of most of the isolates. Among the
nitrogen sources tested, aspartic acid supported the maximum growth of isolates followed by potassium
nitrate and proline. In contrast to this, isolates sporulated better in media containing potassium nitrate,
ammonium nitrate or sodium nitrate as the sole nitrogen source. The response of different isolates to
different temperature levels were found to be vary. However, most of the isolates preferred tempera
ture range of 28 0C to 30 0C for the growth and sporulation when grown on Richard’s agar medium. C.
gloeosporioides isolates grew well at pH 5 while sporulation was better at pH 6.
