I'm currently isolating a number of Alternaria solani and A. alternata strains from leaf samples and am considering my options for long-term storage of both mycelium and spores. I've read conflicting reports on both spore storage on silica gel and mycelium in 15% DMSO at -80. Does anybody have experience in storing these species by these methods, or any alternative strategies?
Hallo Timothy, have you reviewed a number of articles that were published on long term storage of Alternaria ? I have added the one that was published in 2016.Best of luck.
Dear colleague
I work with a similar genus, the curvularia, also isolated from leaves and are preserved for a long time in wedges of malt agar, they can also be preserved in 10% glycerol.
It is necessary to point out that there are various fungal preservation procedures, but periodic cultivation in agar wedges Under mineral oil, conservation of spores in soil, sand or silica gel, lyophilized strains, freezing in liquid nitrogen and in distilled water are the most used.
The choice of methods takes into account several factors, depending on the purpose of the collection, so a small teaching collection differs from those that are national repositories. If, on the contrary, the objective is to taxonomically classify the cultures, methods that guarantee the morphological stability of the microorganisms are required. Likewise, a collection of interest for the industry must emphasize the methods that maintain genetic stability.
In your case, I think you need to keep them in the long term and for that I suggest Cryo freezing or Lyophilization because they are the best where the growth of microbial cells is paralyzed, but they have not died. Thus, genetic stability is guaranteed to the maximum, because the appearance of successive generations is avoided.
I hope it has been helpful
regards
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