TAXONOMY OF FUSARIUM SPECIES ISOLATED FROM CULTIVATED PLANTS, WEEDS AND THEIR PATHOGENICITY FOR WHEAT

Fusarium species are wide-spread and known to be pathogenic agents to cultivated plants in various agroclimatic areas. During a four year investigation 10 Fusarium species and Microdochium nivale were isolated from wheat, barley, maize and soybean as well as from 10 weeds collected from 10 locations in Slavonia and Baranya. Fusarium graminearum was dominant on wheat and barley, F. moniliforme on maize and F. oxysporum on soybean. Regarding weeds, the presence of the following Fusarium species was established: F. graminearum on Amaranthus hybridus, Capsella bursa-pastoris, Lamium purpureum, Sorghum halepense and Urtica dioica, F. moniliforme on Abutilon theophrasti, F. subglutinans on Polygonum aviculare, F. avenaceum on Capsella bursa-pastoris, Rumex crispus and Matricaria sp., F. culmorum on Abutilon theophrasti, F. sporotrichioides on Polygonum aviculare, F. proliferatum and F. poae on Artemisia vulgaris. Pathogenicity test to wheat seedlings was done in our laboratory on winter wheat cultivars Slavonija and Demetra (totally 146 isolates). The most pathogenic species to wheat seedilings were F. graminearum, F. culmorum and F. sporotrichioides and the least pathogenic F. moniliforme, F. solani, F. oxysporum and F. poae. Pathogenicity test for wheat ears was done on genotypes Osk.8c9/3-94 and Osk.6.11/2 (totally 25 isolates). The results obtained by our investigation showed that there were no significant differences in pathogenicity of Fusarium species isolated from both cultivated plants and weeds. Weeds represent a constant source of inoculum of F. species for cultivated plants and they serve as epidemiologic bridges among vegetations