Identification of Alternaria Species Recovered from Stored Durum Wheat Kernels in Tunisia

Abstract

This study confirms the wheat natural infection by Alternaria species associated with black point disease of stored kernels. These species are able to produce plant mycotoxins as well as toxic metabolites, which may have consequences in the food industry and agriculture as well as in health services. Because of the tight link between fungal species and metabolite production, correct identification of the mould at the species level is required. For this purpose, morphological characters and molecular techniques based on the amplification and sequencing of the ITS1-5.8S-ITS2 region of the rDNA were used. The analysis identified six species of Alternaria, namely A. alternata, A. tenuissima, A. arborescens, A. mali, A. longipes, and A. brassicae. The most frequently isolated species were A. alternata and A. tenuissima with an overall prevalence of 36.1 and 30.6%, respectively.

Keywords

• Alternaria
• ITS
• sequencing
• Tunisia
• wheat