Abstract: The seeds of forest trees usually transfer numerous fungi species, including pathogens, facultative parasites and saprotrophs. The aim of the present work was to determine qualitative and quantitative composition of fungi inhabiting the seeds of 10 trees species i.e.: birch (Betula pendula Roth.), beech (Fagus sylvatica L.), red oak (Quercus rubra L.), common oak (Quercus robur L.), sycamore maple (Acer pseudoplatanus L.), black alder (Alnus glutinosa Gaerth.), fir (Abies alba Mill.), European larch (Larix decidua Mill.), pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) and spruce (Picea abies (L.) H. Karst). The seed samples were obtained courtesy of 5 forest districts located in the south−eastern Poland. Mycological analysis was performed in the years 2012−2013. Each time, the study included 100 surface−disinfected seeds of particular plant species. As a result of the study about 2000 colonies of fungi representing 26 genera and above 39 species were isolated. The most frequently occurring species were: Fusarium spp., Penicillium spp., Alternaria alternata, Cladosporium cladosporioides, Trichoderma koningii, Epicoccum nigrum, Phoma spp. and Cylindrocarpon destructans. Moreover Discula spp., Phyllosticta spp., Pyrenochaeta spp., Rhizoctonia solani, Alternaria consortiale were obtained only from the seeds of deciduous trees while Truncatella angustata and Sphareopsis sapinea exclusively from the seeds of coniferous trees. The genus Fusarium was represented by 8 species and among them F. avenaceum, F. oxysporum and F. sporotrichioides dominated. Moreover Penicillium spp., Epicoccum nigrum, Trichoderma koningii, Botrytis cinerea, Cladosporium cladosporioides, Chaetomium globosum and Trichothecium roseum were commonly isolated while the other species of fungi were present in smaller numbers. Isolation of numerous fungi species which may cause mold of sowing material, seedling blight as well as leaves and needles spot, indicates their big threat for seeds during storage and for plants in the initial period of growth in a nursery. The obtained results show that the seeds, besides the infected soil, are a very important source of infection for young plants.

Key words: pathogens, mycological analysis, coniferous trees, deciduous trees, fungal communities

Sylwan 159 (2):135-141, 2015. DOI: https://doi.org/10.26202/sylwan.2014111
Available online: 2015-03-27
Open Access (CC-BY)