Diversity of Fusarium Species from Highland Areas in Malaysia - Nurhazrati Manshor,; Hafizi Rosli,; Nor Azliza Ismail,; Baharuddin Salleh,; Latiffah Zakaria, (Tropical Life Sciences Research, 2012)
Fusarium is a cosmopolitan and highly diversified genus of saprophytic, phytopathogenic and toxigenic fungi. However, the existence and diversity of a few species of Fusarium are restricted to a certain area or climatic condition. The present study was conducted to determine the occurrence and diversity of Fusarium species in tropical highland areas in Malaysia and to compare with those in temperate and subtropical regions. A series of sampling was carried out in 2005 to 2009 at several tropical highland areas in Malaysia that is: Cameron Highlands, Fraser Hills and Genting Highlands in Pahang; Penang Hill in Penang; Gunung Jerai in Kedah; Kundasang and Kinabalu Park in Sabah; Kubah National Park and Begunan Hill in Sarawak. Sampling was done randomly from various hosts and substrates. Isolation of Fusarium isolates was done by using pentachloronitrobenzene (PCNB) agar and 1449 isolates of Fusarium were successfully recovered. Based on morphological characteristics, 20 species of Fusarium were identified. The most prevalent species occurring on the highlands areas was F. solani (66.1%) followed by F. graminearum (8.5%), F. oxysporum (7.8%), F. semitectum (5.7%), F. subglutinans (3.5%) and F. proliferatum (3.4%). Other Fusarium species, namely F. avenaceum, F. camptoceras, F. chlamydosporum, F. compactum, F. crookwellense, F. culmorum, F. decemcellulare, F. equiseti, F. nygamai, F. poae, F. proliferatum, F. sacchari, F. sporotrichioides, F. sterilihyphosum and F. verticillioides accounted for 1% recoveries. The present study was the first report on the occurrences of Fusarium species on highland areas in Malaysia. Fusarium merupakan genus kosmopolitan dan sangat pelbagai, terdiri daripada kulat yang saprofitik, fitopatogenik dan toxigenik. Walaupun demikian, kewujudan dan kepelbagaian beberapa spesies Fusarium terhad kepada beberapa kawasan tertentu dan keadaan iklim. Kajian ini dijalankan untuk menentukan kewujudan dan kepelbagaian spesies Fusarium dari kawasan tanah tinggi tropika di Malaysia, dan untuk membandingkannya dengan kawasan temperat dan sub-tropika. Persampelan berperingkat dilakukan secara rawak daripada pelbagai perumah dan substrat dari tahun 2005 hingga 2009 di beberapa kawasan tanah tinggi di Malaysia iaitu: Cameron Highlands, Bukit Fraser dan Genting Highlands di Pahang; Bukit Bendera di Pulau Pinang; Gunung Jerai di Kedah; Kundasang dan Taman Kinabalu di Sabah; Taman Negara Kubah dan Bukit Begunan di Sarawak. Pemencilan Fusarium dilakukan menggunakan media agar pentakloronitrobenzena (PCNB) dan sebanyak 1449 pencilan Fusarium telah berjaya diperolehi. Berdasarkan ciri-ciri morfologi, 20 spesies Fusarium telah dikenal pasti. Spesies yang paling banyak diperolehi di kawasan tanah tinggi tersebut adalah F. solani (66.1%) diikuti dengan F. graminearum (8.5%), F. oxysporum (7.8%), F. semitectum (5.7%), F. subglutinans (3.5%) dan F. proliferatum (3.4%). Spesies Fusarium yang lain iaitu F. avenaceum, F. camptoceras, F. chlamydosporum, F. compactum, F. crookwellense, F. culmorum, F. decemcellulare, F. equiseti, F. nygamai, F. poae, F. proliferatum, F. sacchari, F. sporotrichioides, F. sterilihyphosum dan F. verticillioides, masing-masing terdiri daripada 1% pencilan. Kajian ini merupakan kajian yang pertama melaporkan kewujudan spesies Fusarium di kawasan tanah tinggi di Malaysia.