Seedborne fungi on stored onion seeds

Abstract

Seed as a highly-valuable resource is preserved in collections for many years. Although the seed is kept under optimal conditions, monitoring of germination and the presence of fungi during seed preservation is of great importance. Therefore, the aim of this paper was to examine the seed health status and germination of forty-three onion accessions kept in the timespan of 15 years in the Institute of Field and Vegetable Crops collection. Germination of seed samples varied from 7-93%. The presence of fungi in the collection was determined on thirty-three tested samples. Fungi from the genera Acremonium, Alternaria, Aspergillus, Cladosporium, Epicoccum, Fusarium and Penicillium were developed. The following Fusarium species identified on the seeds were F. proliferatum, F. graminearum, F. sporotrichoides, F. solani, F. pseudograminearum and F. equiseti. Based on factor analysis, Fusarium and Penicillium were the species which affected germination, while the occurrence of Alternaria species on onion seed is connected to the year of harvest.