Table 1 Identification data of the isolated alfalfa seed-borne fungi

Acremonium strictum

Pink, usually moist and smooth, 2.5 cm diam in 10 days at 22°C on MEA^a

Simple phialides arising from submerged or fasciculated aerial hyphae

Cylindrical, 3.3 x 1.8 μm, no chlamydospores formed

Alternaria alternata

Golden brown, reaching 6 cm diam in 7 days at 25°C on MEA

Simple, straight, septate, to 50 μm long, 3–6 μm wide

Ovoid, short apical beak, brown, one or two longitudinal septa, 18–63 x 7–18 μm

Aspergillus flavipes

Whitish, 3–5 cm diam in 10–14 days at 25°C on CzA and MEA

Smooth-walled, pale yellow to light brown, 2.4-3.2 μm diam

Solitary or botryose aleurioconidia 4–6 μm diam occur

Aspergillus flavus

Yellow-green, 5 cm diam in 10 days at 25°C on CzA and 7 cm on MEA

Hyaline, 0.6 mm long, rough-walled. Conidial heads radiating; a layer of metulae with phialides

Globose, finely roughened, 3–4 μm diam

Aspergillus glaucus

Yellow-green to greenish grey, on CzA reaching 1–2 cm diam in 21 days at 25°C

Smooth-walled, uncolored to pale brown, 200–350 μm long.

Subglobose, densely covered with thick spines, 5.5 μm diam

Aspergillus nidulans

Dark-green to brownish, 6 cm diam in 14 days at 25°C on CzA, on MEA 7 cm in 7 days

Smooth, brown, 60–50 μm, vesicle hemispherical, 8–12 μm diam, metula and phialides on upper part

Globose, rough, 3–4 μm diam

Aspergillus niger

Black powdery, 3 cm diam in 10 days at 25°C on CzA, and 6 cm on MEA

Arising from long, brownish foot cells, 1.5-3.0 mm tall

Large, radiating heads, globose, irregularly roughened, 4–5 μm diam

Aspergillus ochraceus

Light buff, 3 cm diam in 12 days at 25°C on CzA, and 5 cm on MEA

Yellow to light brown, 1.5 mm long, coarsely roughened; vesicles globose, with metulae

Globose, delicately roughened, 2.5-3 μm diam

Aspergillus tamarii

Dark brown, 6 cm diam in 13 days at 25°C on CzA and 7 cm on MEA

Hyaline, 1–2 mm, roughened, vesicles globose, 25 to 50 μm diam, sterigmata in 1 or 2 series

Cylindrical when young, globose at maturity, 5–6 μm diam

Cephalosporium acremonium

Pinkish, centrally tufted, 1.8-2.3 cm diam in 10 days at 22°C on MEA

Simple phialides arising from submerged hyphae, thin walled

Cylindrical conidia, 3.5 x 1.2 μm, chlamydospores with chromophilic walls, 4–8 μm diam after 12 days

Chaetomium sp.

White, gray to olive, cottony, 7 cm diam in 10 days at 20 C on OA

Cladosporium sp.

Olivaceous green, velvety to powdery, slow growing on PDA at 25°C

Tall, dark, upright, branched variously near the apex, clustered or single

Dark, 1- or 2-celled, ovoid, irregular, in simple or branched chains

Colletotrichum trifolii

Olive green to gray, slimy, 5 cm in 5 days at 25°C on PDA

Acervulae scattered across the colony, 100–250 mm. Short conidiophores, 8-10 × 2-4 μm

Cylindrical, salmon-apricot, hyaline, straight, nonseptate, rounded at ends, 11–13 x 3–4 μm

Cunninghamella sp.

Mycelium white, extensive in culture, nonseptate on PDA

Simple or branched, with enlarged tips bearing heads of conidia

Hyaline, 1-celled, globose

Curvularia lunata

Dark brown, velvety, 6 cm in 5 days at 25°C on OA

Singly or in groups, simple or branched, straight, 650 x 9 μm

3-septate, curved in the third cell, which is usually larger and darker, smooth-walled, 20 x 10 μm

Drechslera tetramera

Brownish, appearing glassy with sooty powder of conidia, 3 cm diam in 5 days at 25°C on OA

Brownish, unbranched, septate, up to 250 μm long and 4–8 μm wide, single or in clusters of 2–3 Erect

Brown, ellipsoid, straight, rounded ends, lighter towards the terminii, 20.4-35.7 x 8.5-13.6 μm, 3-septate

Drechslera. micropa

Olivaceous-brown but later becoming black, 3.9 cm diam in 5 days at 20°C on OA

Light brown, single, short, slender, straight 10 x 3 μm

Olivaceous brown, ellipsoid, broader at middle, tapered towards both ends, 4–7 septa, 37.4–52.7 x 11.9–13.6 μm

Epicoccum purpurascens

Yellow to brown, 6 cm diam in 10 days at 20°C on CzA and MEA

Hyaline, claviform, 0-2-septate, smooth, 9 x 6 μm, producing a single dark conidium terminally

Globose, 15–25 μm diam, funnel-shaped base, wall golden-brown to dark brown, the septa divide the conidia in up to 15 cells

Fusarium equiseti

White tinged with peach, later beige, finally deep olive buff, 5.8 cm diam in 4 days at 25°C on OA

Branched, monophialides, 12–17 x 3–4 μm, with a single apical opening

Only macroconidia are produced, 3–5 septa, 31–47 x 4–5 μm. Chlamydospores, chains, ochraceous, 7–9 μm diam on CLA

Fusarium incarnatum

Whitish but later becoming buff-brown. 6 cm diam in 4 days at 25°C on OA

Branched; phialides slender, cylindrical, 19–24 x 2–4 μm, one conidium at each one

Macroconidia fusiform, straight, beaked apical cells, 3–5septa, 17–35x3-4 μm. Microconidia absent. Chlamydospores globose, single or chain, 5–10 μm on CLA

Fusarium solani

White to cream-coloured aerial mycelium, green to bluish-brown when sporodochia are present, 3.2 cm diam in 4 days at 25°C on OA

Elongated, verticillate, 8–16 x 2–4 μm

Microconidia abundant, hyaline, cylindrical, 9–16 x 2–4 μm, Macro-conidia, 3-septate, 28–42 x 4–6 μm. Chlamydospores single or in pairs, hyaline, 6–10 μm diam on CLA

Fusarium verticillioides

Whitish, purplish white or very light orange-white, 4 cm diam in 4 days at 25°C on PDA

Medium length, simple or branched. Conidiogenous cells are monophialides

Macroconidia sparse, nearly straight, 5-septa, 31–58 x 2.7-3.6 μm on CLA. Microconidia abundant, 0 to 1-septate, oval to clavate, 7–10 x 2.5-3.2 μm, Chlamydoconidia absent

Mucor sp.

White and becoming dark grey, 9 cm diam in 4 days at 25°C on MEA

Hyaline, without basal rhizoids, large columella, terminal many-spored sporangia

Sporangiospores were globose to ellipsoidal, hyaline, grayish or brownish, smooth-walled

Myrothecium verrucaria

White to rosy buff, 5.0 cm diam in 14 days at 25°C on PDA

Diffuse olivaceous to black sporodochia; Phialides 3–6 in a whorl, 10.5-14.5 x 1.5-2 μm

Broadly fusiform, pointed apical, basal truncate, bearing an apical, funnel-shaped appendage, 7 x 3 μm

Penicillium sp.

Rapid growing on PDA, velvety, white and became greyish green

Branched near the apex, penicillate, ending in a group of phialides

Hyaline or brightly colored in mass, 1-celled, globose or ovoid, in chains

Phoma trifolii

Grey, gradually darkening, 5.5 cm diam in 7 days at 25°C on OA

Pycnidia usually arising in regularly scattered

Ellipsoidal, 6 x 3 μm, two-celled, dark chlamydospores, swollen cells, 10–22 μm

Rhizoctonia solani

Rhizopus stolonifer

Reddish grey-brown, very fast-growing, over 2 cm high on PDA

Pale to dark brown, straight, 2.5 x 20 μm, Stolons hyaline to brown, branched rhizoids

Sporangia black, 100–200 μm; oval columella. Sporangiospores subglobose, ridged, 7 x 4.5 μm

Sclerotium bataticola

Agar cultures are black and homogenous due to microsclerotia formation

Stachybotrys chartarum

Covered by dark powdery bloom of conidia, 1.4 cm diam in 5 days on OA at 25°C

Simple, branched, 100–1,000 x 3–6 μm, olivaceous, clusters of 4–10 ellipsoidal, hyaline phialides

Aggregated in slimy masses, ellipsoidal, at first hyaline, at maturity dark olivaceous-grey, 7–12 x 4–6 μm

Stemphylium botryosum

Hyaline to brown hyphae, forming small pulvainate stromata, 6–8 cm diam in 8 days on MEA at 25°C

Straight, simple, 20–72 x 4–6 μm, darker brown, roughened at apex

Ovoid, 2–3 septa, pale to deep olivaceous-brown, 24–38 x 15–26 μm

Trichoderma harzianum

White and became pale green, 9 cm in 4 days at 30°C on PDA

With paired branches, secondary branches at 90° angle, longest ones near the base and the axis

Subglobose, yellow, becoming yellow-green, 2.7 x 2.5 μm, phialides in a whorl or solitary

Trichothecium roseum

Pinkish, zonate in diurnal rhythm, 9 cm in 10 days at 20°C on MEA

Erect, 2 x 4 μm, often with three septa in the lower part

Ellipsoidal, 2-celled, upper cell slightly larger, hyaline, thick-walled, 12 x 8 μm

Ulocladium atrum

Black with white margin on CMA, mycelium pale olivaceous brown, septate, 5 μm diam

Erect, simple or branched, dark brown, 5–8 x 120 μm

Multiform, solitary, dark brown, three or one transverse septa