Studies on Seed-Borne Fungi Associated with the Seeds of Three Acacia species by Using Nutrient Agar Test
Ahmed Ismail Ahmed Safi *
Institute of Gum Arabic Research and Desertification Studies, University of Kordofan, Elobied, Sudan.
Ahmed Hashim Ahmed
Crop Protection Department, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Khartoum, Khartoum, Sudan.
Ghada Bakri Mohammed
Crop Protection Department, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Khartoum, Khartoum, Sudan.
*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Abstract
The present study was initiated to investigate the seed-borne fungi associated with the seeds of three important Acacia species namely, Acacia senegal (Hashab), A. nilotica (Sunt) and A. mellifera (Kitir). Eight seed samples of these species were collected from several locations in the Sudan namely, North Kordofan State, White Nile State (Jalahat) and Blue Nile State (Damazine). The growing-on tests was conducted in the green house. Moreover, some methods were carried out in the laboratory to detect the seed-borne fungi including the dry inspection and nutrient agar tests. Nine seed-borne fungi species were isolated and identified. High incidence of seed-borne fungi, reaching 90% and 56% contamination of Asperigillus niger and A. flavus, respectively, were recorded. Less prevalent fungi detected include A. nidulans, Alternaria alternate, Curvularia lunata, Rhizopus sp., Stumphilium sp., Penicillium sp. and Cladopsporium sp. The growing-on tests revealed no virus or disease like symptoms. The dry seed inspection showed few discolored seeds. The results also showed a close relationship between the seed contamination and the percentage of germination failure. The results also indicated the need for pre-sowing treatments of Acacia seeds to improve the seedling establishment.
Keywords: Seed-borne fungi, Acacia species, seeds of Acacia species and nutrient agar test