Occurrence of Fungi, with Emphasis on Diplodia pinea, in Pine Seeds from Forest Nurseries of Turkey

Abstract

Diplodia sapinea (Fries) Fuckel severely damages conifers and significantly reduces seed production and germination when cones are infected with the pathogen. We used a selective nutrient medium to determine the presence of D. sapinea in Pinus brutia, Pinus nigra, and Pinus pinea seeds from forest nurseries in Antalya, Balıkesir, Denizli, Eskişehir, and Isparta. Morphological and molecular analysis revealed that the isolates from P. brutia and P. pinea seeds were D. sapinea. No fungal isolates were obtained from the seeds of P. nigra. D. sapinea was isolated from 4% and 1% of Pinus pinea and P. brutia seeds, respectively. We also morphologically identified fungal colonies other than D. sapinea in seeds on the selective nutrient medium. The most common species were Sydowia polyspora, Alternaria alternata, and Aspergillus niger, Fusarium spp., Fusarium oxysporum, and Rhizoctonia solani, which are harmful to seeds, were also isolated. Other fungi isolated from the seeds were Trichoderma harzianum, Aureobasidium pullulans, Trimmatostroma salicis, Rhizoctonia solani, Chaetomium globosum, and Stephylium spp.