Soft rot of tomatoes

Dec 18, 2018 • 9:27 AM UTC

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Tomatoes which were accidentally left out in the kitchen at room temperature for two days showed a cottony growth. On fixing the sample on a slide and observing under a foldscope, branching pattern of hyphae resembling that of Rhizopus stolonifer was observed (ref. ipm.ifas.ufl.edu/pdfs/Postharvest_Disorders.pdf)

R. stolonifer can cause soft rot on soft fruits. Ripe fruits are most susceptible to R. stolonifer. On tomatoes, Rhizopus rot appears as:
Water-soaked lesions that may exude some liquid Lesion surface covered with thin, cotton-like fungal structures Mycelium initially formed a mattress of branched and aseptate hyphae Dark sporulation may crown the white tuft of Rhizopus

Rhizopus stolonifer grows primarily as mycelia, which consists of long filamentous cells, or hyphae, that lack cross walls, known as septa. Lack of septa and multinuleate is a condition named as coenocytic condition.
Dr. Samriti Dhawan & Dr. Jasveen Dua, GGDSD College, Chandigarh