Morphology, Pathogenicity and Molecular Identification of Fusarium spp. Associated with Anise Seeds in Serbia

Abstract

Anise (Pimpinella anisum L.) is an important medicinal spice plant that belongs to the family Apiaceae. Anise seeds are rich in essential oils and this is a reason why anise production in Serbia has increased over the last decade. During a routine health inspection on anise seeds collected from three localities in the province of Vojvodina (Mošorin, Veliki Radinci and Ostojićevo) during 2012 and 2013, it was found out that Fusarium spp. were a commonly observed fungi. The presence of Fusarium fungion the seed samples ranged from 3.75-13.75%. The aim of this study was to isolate and identify the strains of Fusarium species present on anise seed samples as it is necessary that commercially used anise seeds are completely free of Fusarium. Based on morphological, microscopic characteristics and a molecular identification by sequencing of TEF gene, the presence of the following species was confirmed on the anise seeds: F. tricinctum, F. proliferatum, F. equiseti, F. oxysporum, F. sporotrichoides, F. incarnatum and F. verticillioides. According to our knowledge and research, this is the first report of F. tricinctum and F. sporotrichoides as pathogens on anise seeds in the world. All seven isolates of Fusarium species are pathogenic to the anise seedlings, while the most virulent species were F. oxysporum, F. tricinctum and F. incarnatum.