Fungi and Oomycetes from maize rhizosphere soils collected in Free State and North West

This dataset contains detailed figures and tables about the fungal and oomycetes strains that have been isolated from maize rhizosphere soils that were collected in the Free State and North West provinces of South Africa. For chapter 2 data file: this is isolations resulted in 460 strains that were classified into 28 genera and 80 species. Fusarium, Neocosmospora, Penicillium and Trichoderma were found to dominate rhizosphere communities, with F. tardicrescens, N. solani, P. raperi, and T. afroharzianum the most common and consistently isolated species across farms. Other genera identified include Aspergillus, Chaetomium, Cladosporium, Metarhizium, Talaromyces, and Umbelopsis. Notably, Fusarium chlamydosporum, F. oxysporum, F. subglutinans, F. temperatum, Neocosmospora falciformis and Setophoma terrestris were isolated from soils and have previously been reported to cause stalk, root, and /or crown rots of maize plants. For Chapter 3 data file: a total of 65 strains were isolated and identified as Globisporangium irregulare, Globisporangium ultimum and Pythium torulosum. Globisporangium irregulare was the most frequently isolated (n = 45; isolated from 19/19 farms), followed by Gl. ultimum (n = 15; isolated from 7/19 farms) and Pythium torulosum (n = 5; isolated from 4/19 farms). All three species have previously been reported to cause root rot or pre- and postemergence damping-off of maize in South Africa. The findings of the data provide the baseline knowledge needed to start understanding fungal community compositions of maize rhizosphere soils and give us an insight into what soilborne pathogens may be associated with maize.