Isolation of Ascomycetous Fungi from a Tertiary Institution Campus Soil

Abstract

Studies were carried out on the ascomycetous fungi present in six different but carefully selected sites on the University of Ilorin permanent site soil. Fungi isolation was done by the soil dilution method incubated at 27oC for 72 hours. The predominant Ascomycetous fungi isolated include among others; Aspergillus niger, Fusarium solani, Fusarium oxysporum, Penicillium italicum, Fusarium acuminatum, Fusarium culmorum, Candida albicans, Botrytis cinerea, Geotrichum candidum, Trichoderma viride, Verticillium lateritum, Curvularia palescens, Penicillium griseofulvum, Penicillium janthinellum, Penicillium chrysogenum, Aspergillus terreus, Aspergillus flavus, Aspergillus fumigatus, Aspergillus glaucus, Aspergillus clavatus, Cladosporium resinae, Alternaria alternate, Trichothecium roseum, Phialophora fastigiata, Aspergillus nidulans, Aspergillus wentii, Humicola grisea, Trichophyton rubrum, Helminthosporium cynodontis, Penicillium funiculosum, Penicillium purpurogenum, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Trichoderma harzianum, Scopulariopsis candida.The physicochemical characteristics of soil samples was found to affect the distribution and population of fungi. The colony count in the study are ranged between 5.8 x 10 per gram of soil to 1.63 x 10 per gram of soil. The soil consists of high organic matter content.