Association of seed mycoflora of Abrus laevigatus E. May. Abstract: Abrus laevigatus E. May. is a medicinal plant.

The seeds are released by rupture of seeds. The seeds are assimilated and germinate to develop new plants. During survey, it was observed that seeds are infected by fungi. Therefore, this study was undertaken to study the seed borne fungi of Abrus laevigatus E. May. The Seed borne mycoflora was studied by using blotter, agar plate and deep freeze methods as recommended by ISTA. The samples were found infested with Aspergillus flavus, A. niger, Curvularia spp., Rhizopus spp. and Alternaria

alternata by these method. Blotter plate method yielded the highest number of fungi as compared to agar plate and deep freeze methods (Booth, C. (1971). It is the suitable method for the detection seed borne fungi. Introduction: Abrus laevigatus E. May. is commonly known as 'Gunj' in Hindi viz. deciduous woody climber of the family Fabaceae. The shiny white colored seeds can be easily recognized. Since long, this plant has been in used due to its medicinal value. Different plant parts of this species, contain various kinds of alkaloids such as glycerrhizin, precol, abrol, abrasine, abrin A and abrin B, which indicate its medicinal value. Still there is no report regarding seed mycoflora of Abrus laevigatus E. May. In view of the economic importance of the plant, present work was carried out to explore the seed-borne mycoflora associated with this medicinal plant. Materials and Methods For the detection of seed-borne mycoflora ISTA techniques were used (Anon., 1993). By using blotter paper, agar plate and deep-freeze methods. The infected and healthy seeds were collected to detect seed mycoflora. Standard blotter method: Healthy seeds and seeds after treatment with 0.1% sodium hypo chloride for 5 minutes were placed on three layer of moistened blotter

paper, 5 seeds were placed in petri dish in a circle. The dishes were incubated for 7 days at 27 3C under 12hr, alternating cycle of artificial day light (ADL) and darkness. Agar plate method: Healthy seeds and seeds after surface sterilization with 0.1% sodium hypo chloride for 5 minutes were placed on potato dextrose agar media (PDA), 5 seeds were placed in petri dish in a circle. The dishes were then incubated for 7days at 273C under 12hr, alternating cycles of artificial day light (ADL) and darkness. Deep freezing method: Healthy seeds and seeds treated with 0.1% sodium hypo chloride for 5minutes were placed on three layers of moistened blotter paper.The petri dishes were incubated for 24hr, each at 20C and -2C followed by 5 days incubation at 277C under 12h alternating cycles of ADL and darkness. Identification of fungi: The fungal growth appearing on seeds was identified with the help of colony color, sporulation and shape of spores. The mycelium and reproductive structures were observed with the help of compound microscope and relevant literature. Seed borne fungi were identified by referring the literature of Barnett (1960), Booth (1971), Domsch et al., (1980), Ellis (1971), Nelson et al., (1983) and Raper & Fennell (1965). Pathogensity test was confirmed by using spore suspension obtained from 15 days old culture growth of five fungi including Alternaria alternata, Fusarium solani, Fusarium oxysporum, Aspergillus flavus, Aspergills niger and Curvularia lunata on PDA.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION: Name of the plant Abrus laevigatus E. May. Fungal species isolate Unsterilized seed Aspergills niger Aspergills flavus A. alternata Rhizopus spp. Sterilized seed Fusarium solani F. oxysporum Curvularia lunata

Fungi associated with the seed samples were identified as Alternaria alternata, Fusarium solani, Fusarium oxysporum, Aspergillus flavus, Aspergillus niger, Curvularia lunata and some non-pathogenic species of Alternaria alternata, Fusarium solani, Fusarium oxysporum and Curvularia lunata were serious pathogenic fungi causing quantitative and qualitative losses to seed. Similar

results were also reported by Agarwal, V.K. (1976) on soy bean, Kumar et al., (2002) on lentil, Dawar & Ghaffar (1991) on sunflower seeds,Niaz & Dawar (2009) on maize. Among this method blotter paper method was more usefull. REFERENCES: Agarwal, V.K. (1976). Technique for the detection of seed borne fungi. Seed Research 4: 24-31. Barnett, H.L. 1960. Illustrated genera of imperfect fungi (second edition). Burgess Pub. Co.pp. 225. Bolkan, H.A., de Silva, AR. and Cupertino,F.P. (1976). Fungi associated with soybean and bean seeds and their control in central Brazil. PI. Dis. Reptr 60: 545548. Booth, C. (1971). The Genus Fusarium. Commonwealth Mycological Inst, Kew, Surrey, England. 237 pp.

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