First report of <i>Fusarium equiseti</i> causing crown rot and damping-off on durum wheat in Algeria
Amor Bencheikh, Noureddine Rouag, Walid Mamache, Imene Belabed
Abstract
The isolation of Pathogens from wheat seeds sampled from fifty-nine locations in North-eastern Algeria showed the existence of the species Fusarium equiseti for the first time in the seeds of the durum wheat in Algeria. The identification was carried out on the basis of macroscopic and microscopic characteristics and confirmed by Molecular identification. The pathogenicity test was performed, on three durum wheat varieties to determine the impact of this isolate on the coleoptile and basal part of durum wheat. The results showed that Fusarium equiseti caused a significant diminution in length and emergence rate of coleoptile by 48.99 and 44% respectively, and a decrease in the length of the root and vegetative systems by 45.63 and 27.12%, consecutively. It also caused a diminution in the fresh weight of the root and vegetative systems by 45.65 and 22.52%, respectively.