Figures (1)  Tables (2)

    • Figure 1.  a Alternaria alternata. b Alternaria solani. c Aspergillus niger. d Botrytis cineria. e Cladosporium fulvum. f Colletotrichum truncatum. g Curvularia tetramera. h Fusarium oxysporum. i Geotrichum candidum. j Mucor meucedo. k Penicillium notatum. l Phoma exigua. m Pythium aphanidermatum. n Phytophthora infestans. o Pullularia pullulans. p Rhizopus stolonifer. Photos identified by Pathology Unit, Central Department of Botany, T.U.

    • S.N. Name of the obtained species Characteristics
      1. Alternaria alternata Conidiophores single or in small groups, simple or branched, straight or flexuous, olivaceous or golden brown, smooth, with conidial scars. Conidia formed in long chain 5-8, obclavate, obpyriform or ellipsoidal, with short, beak, pale or golden brown, smooth or verruculose with up to 8 transverse and usually several longitudinal or oblique septa. Beak pale.
      2. Alternaria solani Conidiophores single or in small groups, simple or branched, straight or flexuous, septated, pale brown or olivaceous brown. Conidia usually solitary, or in a group of 2-3, straight or slightly flexuous, oblong or ellipsoidal tapering to a long beak, pale golden or olivaceous brown, smooth with 9-11 transverse and 0 or few longitudinal or oblique septa, beak flexuous, pale tapering gradually.
      3. Aspergillus niger Conidiophore erect, straight or flexuous. Colorless or with the upper part brown, swollen at the apex into the spherical vesicle covered by closely packed more or less clavate branches. Flask shaped phialides present in a group at the apex of branches. Conidia catenate, dry usually globose brown verruculose or echinulate conidial heads at first globose, blackish brown to black, in age splitting into several loose columns.
      4. Botrytis cinerea Conidiophores erect, unbranched or seldom branched, septate, wall blackish-brown, toward the tip almost hyline with several projections from which the conidia are formed singly on the very fine warts. Conidia ovate or elliptical to almost globose, finely apiculate at the base, with almost hyline, slightly brownish wall.
      5. Cladosporium fulvum Conidiophore macronematous, mononematous, caespitose, unbranched or occasionally branched, straight or flexuous; narrow near the base broadening at the unilateral nodes, pale brown or olevaceous brown, smooth. Conidia catenated, frequently branched cylindrical with rounded ends or ellipsoidal, 0-3 septed, hilum slightly protuberant.
      6. Colletotrichum truncatum Conidia non-septate, hyline, falcate, truncate, uninucleate with oil drops in the cytoplasm. Setae present in acervulus, telomorph present i.e. Glomerella truncata sp. nov.
      7. Curvularia tetramera Mycelium branched septated sub-hyline or brown, conidiophores dark olivaceous brown or very irregular; simple or compound. Conidia produced at irregular distance from the base, chiefly 4 celled, born in cluster of 2-3 to 50 or more; dark olivaceous to brown, rather symmetrical shape tapering towards the rounded ends. Conidia with basal hyline cell, produced on branched conidiophore.
      8. Fusarium oxysporum var. aurantiacum Macroconida large, curved, sickle-shaped/lunate in sporodochia and pionnotes, usually 4-5 septed Presence of extended sclerotial bodies, deep purple violet colored stroma. The fungus without aromatic odor.
      9. Geotrichum candidum Mycelium hyline, prostate forming turf, turf cushion like somewhat powdery white. Hyphae prostate with few septa. Conidiophores short and erect or ascending, septed producing conidia in chains at their apex. Conidia short cylindrical, truncate at both ends hyline.
      10. Mucor mucedo Simple, unsepted mycelium, bearing erect, silvery grey shingling unbranched, sporangiophore that produces non-apophysate, brownish black, cylindrical or companulate spherical sporangia with red-orange content. Elliptic or sub-cylindrical variable sized spores with smooth wall tardily yellow or colorless. Zygospore spherical with black thick varicose hard and fragile exine, enclosed colorless in tine.
      11. Penicillium notatum Well developed, copiously branched, septed hyphae. Conidiophores usually arise from submerged mycelium, sometimes branched, produce long heads; fructifications in two stages metulae and phialides on which globose to oval, long chains of conidia are produced successively.
      12. Phoma exigua Pycnidia globose to sub-globose or irregular with a non-papillate ostioles glabrous solitary or confluent; membranous to leathery or almost carbonous black. Conidiophore inside pycnidia insignificant. Conidia, sub globose, ellipsoidal to oblong or allantoid, usually with guttules mainly aseptate, maybe singly septed.
      13. Pythium aphanidermatum Coenocytic, aseptate, cylindrical and branched mycelium; septa formed at the tip of hyphae to set sex organ; oogonia terminal, globose and smooth. Antheridia mostly intercalary, sometimes broadly shaped, 2 per oogonium, monoclinous or diclinous. Thick-walled, aplerotic oospores and lobed sporangia that contain kidney shaped, biflagellate zoospores.
      14. Phytophthora infestans Heterothallic and bisexual. Coenocytic, branched mycelium; septa formed at the tip of hyphae to set sex organ; opaque, white lemon shaped sporangia with papilla at distal end are borne singly on the branch tips of alternatively branched sporangiophores that contains zoospores.
      15. Pullularia pullulans Hyphae dark color with age composed of chains of dark, thick-walled cells, connected by strands of lighter colored cells. Conidia as oval to elongated cells, thick-walled and darkly pigmented budding from brown, branching and septate mycelial threads, both terminally and laterally, may continue to multiply by budding and abstriction. Mycelial cells later divided into a number of isodiametric cells with rounded sides and thick double wall, filled with oil drops.
      16. Rhizopus stolonifer Simple, non-septed mycelium produces stolon which forms tufts of sporangiophores; well-developed rhizoids attached at the point where stolon are produced; sporangiophores bear large, spherical sporangia with flattened base having well-developed hemi-spherical columella. Spores, round or oval, angular, colorless or brown with circularized wall. Zygospore naked.
      Source: (Ellis 1971, Gilman 1998)

      Table 1.  List of obtained species with their characteristics.

    • S.N. Name of Fungi Site A Site B Site C Category Diseases
      1. Alternaria alternata + + + D Back mold rot
      2. Alternaria solani + + + D Alternaria rot
      3. Aspergillus niger + + + D Back mold rot
      4. Botrytis cinerea + + - M Grey mole rot
      5. Cladosporium fulvum + + - M Scab/Cladosporium rot
      6. Colletotrichum truncatum + + + D Anthracnose rot
      7. Curvularia tetramera - + + M Drechslera mold rot
      8. Fusarium oxysporum + + + D Fusarium rot
      9. Geotrichum candidum + + + D Sour rot
      10. Mucor mucedo + + + D Mucor rot
      11. Penicillium notatum - + + M Penicillium rot
      12. Phoma exigua - + - R Phoma rot
      13. Pythium aphanidermatum + + - M Pythium rot
      14. Phytophthora infestans + + - M Phytophthora rot
      15. Pullularia pullulans + - - R Russet
      16. Rhizopus stolonifer + + + D Rhizopus rot
      Total numbers of species 13 15 10
      Numbers of species in percentage 81.25% 93.75% 62.5%

      Table 2.  Fungal species, the sites from which they were isolated, the category based on frequency of isolation and their corresponding diseases.