TITLE:
Morphological Identification of the Main Fungi Associated with Sesame in Burkina Faso
AUTHORS:
Dianyagou Paul Ouali, Pawindé Elisabeth Zida, Wendolian Romain Soalla, Kuilpoko Marie Laure Guissou
KEYWORDS:
Sesame, Fungi Associated with Seeds, Seed Health Analysis, Burkina Faso
JOURNAL NAME:
American Journal of Plant Sciences,
Vol.14 No.8,
August
22,
2023
ABSTRACT: Several fungal species are responsible for diseases
that damage sesame crop and cause production losses. These seed-borne fungi cause serious damage
by reducing seed germination. To identify the fungi associated with sesame seeds
in Burkina Faso, 72 sesame seed samples were collected from 24 localities in
the main production areas (Sudanian zone, Sudano-Sahelian zone, Sahelian zone).
These samples were submitted for seed health analysis using the blotting paper
incubation method. The results obtained revealed that the seed samples were
contaminated by various fungi, the main ones being: Fusarium spp. Link: Fr. infecting 97.22% of the samples, Macrophomina
phaseolina (Tassi) Goid. (90.28%), Alternaria sesamicola E. Kawamura
(83.33%), Curvularia lunata (Wakker) Boedijn (76.39%), Cercospora
sesami A. Zimmerm. (73.61%), Phoma sorghina Boerema, Dorenbosch,
& Van Kesteren (73.61%), Aspergillus flavus Link: Fr. (69.44%), Cladosporium sphaerospermum Penz. (56.94%), Rhizopus sp. Ehrenb. (40.28%) and A. niger Tiegh.
(36.11%). In each seed sample, 0.25% to 94% of the seeds host one or more
fungal species. Regarding the climatic zones, the results revealed that A.
sesamicola and A. flavus were more represented in the Sudanian zone
than in the Sudano-Sahelian and Sahelian zones; while P. sorghina, and C.
sphaerospermum were more encountered in the Sahelian zone than in the other
two zones. This study showed that the majority of sesame seeds produced and
used by farmers in Burkina Faso host one or more species of fungi at high
levels.