Noticeable prevalence of Fusarium proliferatum fungus in Corn seeds in the Middle region of Iraqi

A. Karim, Fatima; Salman Jawad, Ohood

doi:10.21608/ijfsnh.2021.210196

Noticeable prevalence of Fusarium proliferatum fungus in Corn seeds in the Middle region of Iraqi

Document Type : Original Research

Authors

¹ Lecturer at The Department of Clinical Laboratories,College of AppliedMedical Sciences, University of Kerbala, Iraq.

² Assistant Lecturer at The Department of Clinical Laboratories,College of Applied Medical Sciences, University of Kerbala,Iraq.

10.21608/ijfsnh.2021.210196

Abstract

In this study we have examined maize samples from 10 different locations across Kerbala, Babylon and Al-Najaf provinces which are located in the middle region of Iraq. 10 species belong to five genera including Deuteromycetes, Zygomycetes and Ascomycetes were present. Among those, Fusarium Spp. was isolated from 14% of the samples. Other genera such as Aspergillus appeared more dominantly with 62% then Rhizopus second with 16% while other genera, Penicillium and Mucor, occurrence rate was 6% and 2%, respectively.
Fusarium proliferatum, one type of fungi that can occur on a wide range of economically important vegetable plants, was isolated then identified based on morphological characteristics in which Fungal colonies produced white aerial mycelia, rarely with a violet pigmentation. Macroconidia appeared colourless and with 3-5 septa. the number of microconidia were more than macroconidia. They were colourless, in chains with one or without septa. As a confirmation, molecular identification was carried out using PCR technique to identify the internal transcribed spacer region (ITS) from the ribosomal DNA (rDNA).
The study reveals for the first time the widespread of F. proliferatum fungus which has been known to cause root rot in number of important crop plants causing major threat to both animal and human health. The isolation and identification of the fungus from maize seeds, which counts as one of main consumable for the population, suggests a potentially reduce in yields and the easy spread throughout the globalized food system. This pinpoint serious health concerns that require more public awareness.

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