المستخلص: |
The objective of this study was to isolate and identify seed-borne fungi associated with cucurbit seeds including watermelon, sweetmelon, pumpkin and snake cucumber samples that collected from two different geographic locations in Libya (Sirte and Aljufra governorates). The isolation of fungal species was carried out from seed coats and inner seed parts using both blotter and agar-plate methods. The obtained fungal isolates were, then purified and identified. Various fungal species related to different genera consisting of Fusarium, Macrophomina, Alternaria, Aspergillus, Penicillium, Sclerotinia, Cladosporium, and Rhizopus were isolated and identified in this study based on the cultural and morphological characteristics. Results from the present study revealed that there were significant differences of fungal isolations among the tested cucurbitaceous crops and also among the chosen locations using both blotter and plate agar isolation techniques. Also, the total number of isolates recovered from the plate agar isolation technique was generally higher than that of the blotter technique. Both Fusarium solani and Aspergillus niger were shown to be the most common seed-borne fungi isolated from all tested cucurbitaceous crops. Whereas, Cladosporium sp., Sclerotinia sclerotiorum, and Aspergillus spp. were the less common among the isolated fungi. Our results also revealed that Sclerotinia sclerotiorum was mostly occurred on pumpkin seeds.
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