Pure cultures were kept on PDA
slants at 5 C for long term storage or grown at 22 C on PDA plates
for 7–10 days to produce inocula. Conidia were collected with a
spatula, suspended in sterile distilled water,
filtered through a
double layer of sterile muslin cloth (Artsana, Rome, Italy) and
vortexed for 1 min to ensure uniform mixing.