Establishment of Rice Plant Leaf Infection through Fungal Inoculation via Wounding

Using an anatomical needle, scrape three 2- to 3-centimeter-long wounds in the main veins of detached rice leaves. Place the scraped leaves on toothpicks, and spray them with Tween-20 solution. Next, cut a 1/2- by 1/2-centimeter mycelial plug from the OTA plates containing each M griseus strain. Place the plugs on the wounded leaves, and incubate them in a humid chamber at 25 degrees Celsius for 3 to 8 days.

After the incubation period, examine and evaluate the lesions according to the scoring system provided by the International Rice Research Institute. Finally, photograph the diseased leaves to evaluate the infectiousness of the tested strains.