Hydroponics: A Novel Approach to CulturingAphanomyces euteiches

ABSTRACT Aphanomyces euteiches is a soil-borne, economically impactful pathogen that afflicts pulse crops. Isolating it from environmental soil samples is made difficult by other microorganisms naturally present in field soil, particularly Rhizopus , that outcompete it on selective media. However, by isolating and culturing A. euteiches from pea plants grown in a hydroponics apparatus inoculated with field soil, this can be ameliorated to allow for enhanced observation and culturing of A. euteiches in media. This experiment tested and validated a method of hydroponic growth for A. euteiches , and confirmed that it yielded A. euteiches isolates using universal CPN60 sequencing.