Colza seed mycoflora in Fars province

To determine fungal contamination of rape seeds, samples were taken of harvested seed consignments from different regions viz, Saadatshahr, Zarghan, Arsanjan. Ghir-Karzin, Biza and Zafar abad of Fars province during 2008. Seeds were surface sterilized for 2.5 and 5 min. in 1% sodium hypochlorite, and plated on PDA or WA supplemented with 50% Lactic acid, incubated at 25±2 ºC. Growing colonies that developed during 4 to 15 days of incubation were isolated, purified and indentified morphologically using available keys. Aspergillus species were the dominant mycoflora recovered ranging from 20 to 40% in different seed samples. In addition to Aspergillus species, other fungi were also isolated and identified as follows: Penicillium sp., Alternaria sp., Fusarium sp., Cladosporium sp., Rhizoctonia sp., Phoma sp., Botrytis sp., and Rhizopus sp. Knowledge of seed contamination and its severity in different areas will help in decision making on planning for healthy seed production.