Identification and pathogenic characterization of endophytic Fusarium species from cowpea seeds

Isolates of Fusarium were obtained and identified from seeds of cowpea, Vigna unguiculata (L.) Walp., by means of blotter tests and slide cultures. Species were differentiated according to the morphology of the macroconidia, microconidia and their arrangement in chains or false heads, the size and type of conidiophore, and the presence or absence of chlamydospores. The species were identified as F. semitectum, F. equiseti, F. oxysporum, F. solani, F. anthophilum, F. sporotrichioides, F. moniliforme, and Fusarium sp. Among the species, F. semitectum was the most frequently detected. None of these species were pathogenic when inoculated in susceptible cowpea cultivar (BR 17- Gurgueia). But, an isolate of F. oxysporum f. sp. tracheiphilum used as a standard of comparison for pathogenicity (control) induced symptoms of yellowing, vascular wilting, and death of a susceptible cowpea cultivar under the same environmental conditions.