TITLE:
Morphological and Molecular Identification of Fungi Associated with Sesame Diseased Plants of the Three Agroclimatic Zones of Burkina Faso
AUTHORS:
Wendolian Romain Soalla, Pawindé Elisabeth Zida, Bouma James Neya, Kadidia Koita
KEYWORDS:
Burkina Faso, Fungi, Molecular Identification, Morphological Identification, Sesame
JOURNAL NAME:
American Journal of Plant Sciences,
Vol.14 No.3,
March
29,
2023
ABSTRACT: Sesame is Burkina Faso’s second essential agricultural export after
cotton. It’s consequently a supply of income for producers and foreign exchange
for the country. However, sesame production is characterized by low average
yields of about 538 kg·ha-1 at the farmer’s field as compared
to the potential yield of the improved varieties (1500 - 2000 kg·ha-1).
Fungal diseases are some of the major constraints to sesame production in
Burkina Faso. The present study contributes to the development of means to
control pathogenic fungi of this crop, which are responsible for significant
losses. The objective is to identify the fungi associated with diseased sesame
plant samples. To this end, 149 samples of diseased sesame plants were
collected from different production sites located in three agro-climatic zones
of the country. The analysis of the samples according to the blotting paper
method, based on the morphological
characteristics of the fungi, allowed the identification of 18 genera with prevalence rates from 2.68% to 97.98%. The most frequently identified genera
were Macrophomina (97.98%), Cercospora (86.57%), Fusarium (85.23%), Phoma (62.41%) and Colletotrichum (61.07%). The results also
showed a variable distribution of fungi according to the agro-climatic zone
with the predominance of Macrophomina in all three zones. Molecular
identification by DNA sequencing of 120 isolates belonging to the different
fungi detected allowed the identification of 25 species of which the most
representative were Macrophomina phaseolina, Cercospora sesami, Corynespora cassiicola, Alternaria simsimi, Alternaria porri, Fusarium oxysporum, F.
fujikuroi, F. equiseti, Colletotrichum capsici, and C. gloesporiodes. The present study showed that diseased sesame plants
collected from different production sites in Burkina Faso housed several
species of fungi. The fungi presence in diseased plants indicates the need to
inform and raise the stakeholders’ awareness about the phytosanitary problems
of sesame, but also to develop effective and
appropriate control methods against these crop pathogens in Burkina Faso.