Fungal spore suspension was prepared by adding 10ml of sterile distilled water containing 0.1% (v/v) Tween 80 to a
fully sporulated and induced culture. The spores were dislodged using a sterile inoculation loop under strict aseptic
conditions and then vortexed. The spores were counted using Neubauer chamber before inoculation. The volume of
1 ml of the prepared spore suspension containing 3×107 spores was used as inoculum.