SEED-BORNE FUNGI ASSOCIATED TO AMARANTH SEED (Amarantus hypochondriacus L.)

Abstract

This study was conducted in order to characterize the seed-borne fungi associated to amaranth seed (Amarantus hypochondriacus L.) and determine if Macrophoma sp. is transmitted through this way since in the amaranth production areas in México, Macrophoma sp. has a epiphytic and endemic distribution. There is also evidence that the pathogen is transmitted by seed. To evaluate pathogen incidences by the freezing-blotter test, amaranth seed of commercial production lots harvested in 1995 at Tlaxcala, México were used. The washing method was udes to determine the presence of a smut that attacks the ovaries of the amaranth flowers. The pathogen was identified and quantified the inoculum density by kilogram of seed. The field fungi found were Alternaria spp., Fusariun lateritium, Fusarium sp., Phoma sp., Chaetophoma sp. and Peyronellaea sp. and the storage fungi Aspergillus spp. and Penicillium sp. It is reported by the first time in México, the presence of Thecaphora amaranthi (Hirschhorn) K. Vánky growing in the amaranth seed and carried by this way; Macrophoma sp. was not found infecting seed amaranth.