Detection of Rhizomucor pusillus on sunflower seed

Abstract

SUMMARY The accelerated ageing test method (AA), agar plate method (A) and blotter method (B) have been used to detect the Rhizomucor pusillus and other mycobita on 24 samples of sunflower seed. Sterilised and unsterilised sunflower seeds have been incubated at 25ºC and 42ºC in the dark for 72 and 144 hours. The fungus was not detected in any sample at 25ºC, not even after 144 h incubation of seeds. The fungal frequency ranged from 58.3 (B method) to 75.0% (A method) and from 4.2% (B method) to 16.7% (AA method) after 72 h incubation of unsterilised and sterilised samples at 42ºC, respectively. The fungal incidence was 25.5% (AA method), 21.9% (A method) and 20.3% (B method) after 72 h incubation of unsterilised seed, and 2% on sterilised seed in all three applied methods. By extended incubation of unsterilised and sterilised seeds up to 144 h at 42°C the frequency and incidence of the fungus did not significantly change. The results of the present research show that the AA test method, widely applied in seed longevity testing, can be used as a simple and efficient method for the detection of R. pusillus as well as other mycobiota on sunflower seed. Furthermore, these are the first data on determining the presence of R. pusillus in Serbia.