Phenotyping and cross infectivity of Rhizoctonia solani isolates originated from various hosts

Rhizoctonia solani Kuhn (teleomorph: Thanatephorus cucumeris) is a soil-borne plant pathogenic has a broad host range, infects many agricultural and horticultural crops causes banded leaf and sheath in maize, sheath blight in rice, black scurf of potato and foliar blights of fruits etc. Pathogen showing greater extent of variation in the cultural, morphological and pathogenic characters. Variations in cultural characteristics are colony colour, growth pattern, and radial growth. Morphological variability such as sclerotial characters viz. colour, number, weight, pattern of their development and time needed for initiation of sclerotial. Pathogenic variability in respect of incidence and severity on different host as well as different varieties of same host.