Frequency distribution of Fusarium nivale (fr.) CES. and other fungi associated with mango malformation disease (MMD) in Sindh, Pakistan

Mango Malformation Diseases (MMD) is one of the serious threats, causing tremendous economic losses every year to mango growers/contractors. In the current study, six fungi were isolated from primary and secondary tissues of malformed parts of the inflorescence. The fungi identified as Fusarium nivale, F. oxysporum, F. moniliforme, F. semitectum, Alternaria alternata and Aspergillus niger. F. nivale was isolated predominantly from the diseased samples collected from Mirpurkhas, Hyderabad, Tando Allah Yar and Sanghar districts. F. nivale was isolated with highest frequency from Mirpurkhas (55.00%) followed by Hyderabad (46.00%), Tando Allah Yar (35.00%) and Sanghar (30.00%) as compared to F. oxysporum (18.00-28.00%), F. moniliforme (13.00-25.00%), F. semitectum (7.00-15.00%) and other fungi. Desi, Almas and Dusheri showed maximum infection percent in Mirpurkhas ranging from 83.00-95.00%, while in Hyderabad (81.33-93.50%) as compared to Tando Allah Yar (55.33-75.33%) and Sanghar districts (40.60-45.66%). Comparatively less infection percent was observed in Fajri in Mirpurkhas and Hyderabad districts (35.25-36.30%) then the other mango varieties. The overall frequency of F. nivale on all the mango varieties at Mirpurkhas was 60.174% followed by Hyderabad (58.431%). Maximum infection frequency was obtained with F. nivale (82.08%) colonizing 985 tissues out of 1200 tissues, F. oxysporum (11.90%) colonizing 143 tissues, F. moniliforme (7.08%) with 85 tissues colonized as compared to other fungi.