European Journal of Biotechnology and Bioscience

Authors
Azizullah Keerio, Zubair Ahmed Nizamani, Shahid Hussain, Muhammad Rafiq, Sohail Iqbal, Sajjad Ahmed, Azhar-ul-Din keerio

Abstract
Sunflower (Helianthus annuus L) is an important member of the family Asteraceae. Presently sunflower has become the most important oil crop of Pakistan after canola. Its contribution reached up to 16 % in domestic edible oil production. The crop is being attacked by several insect pests and diseases, among all these, the Fusarium wilt caused by Fusarium oxysporum is one of the major damaging disease, which cause heavy losses in terms of quality and quantity of the crop. Therefore, keeping in mind the importance of sunflower in the country’s economy, the present studies were conducted in-vitro conditions at laboratory of Department of Plant Pathology, Faculty of Crop Protection, Sindh Agriculture University Tando Jam, during the year 2015. The major aims of the study were to isolate and identify the wilt causing fungi associated with the wilt of sunflower and to find out the most appropriate and eco-friendly approach to manage the wilt of Sunflower under in-vitro conditions.The results of studies showed that, different fungi were associated with the wilted parts (viz., roots, stems leaves and flower heads) of sunflower. Most frequent and pre-dominant fungi were isolated and identified as Fusarium oxysporum, Fusarium moniliforme, Alternaria helianthi and Aspergillus niger. Among all the isolates, Fusarium oxysporum remains most frequent and pre-dominant fungus and was identified on the bases of their morphological characteristics. Statistical analysis of the data reveals that most of the used of botanical extracts i.e. Neem, Jimsonweed, Apple of Sodom, Tobacco and Bitter apple were also used. Among all the used botanical extracts, the Neem was found more effective in reducing the mycelial growth of the fungus (25.50 mm), followed by Jimson weed and Apple of Sodom, which reduced the fungal colony growth (34.16 mm) and (40.00 mm) respectively. Whereas, Tobacco also reduce the linear colony growth of the fungus (43.83 mm) while, the Bitter apple was found very less effective to reduce the mycelial growth of the tested fungus (53.16 mm). All the botanical extracts at their highest doses significantly showed the anti-fungal properties as compared to control (87.56 mm).