Study on seed mycoflora and sorghum leaf spots in Iran

In order to study and identify the sorghum seed borne fungi، sampling was done from different sorghum fields of Karaj، Gorgan، Sari، Amol، Moghan and Zabol during 2010 and 2011. The leaves of sorghum showing leaf spot symptoms were also collected to detect the causal agents of disease. Standard methods including culture on different agar media، blotter test and seed washing method were used to determine the seed health and isolate fungal strains. Fungal isolates were purified using single spore or hyphal tip transfer techniques and identified using valid mycological keys. In this survey totally 19 genera and 18 different fungal species were isolated، purified and identified. Fungi most frequently isolated and identified from different sorghum panicles were Fusarium verticillioides، F. peroliferatum، Aspergillus sp.، Curvularia sp.، and Alternaria sp. The other fungi with less frequency were also isolated from sorghum seeds. Also 7 Fusarium spp.، 10 Alternaria spp.، 4 Curvularia spp. and 4 Bipolaris spp. isolates were isolated from sorghum leaf pieces showing leaf spot symptoms after culturing on different agar plates.