Cogent Food & Agriculture

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Morphological variability of Fusarium oxysporum

f. sp. capsici (FOC) isolates infecting pepper
(capsicum annum L.) landraces in West Gojjam
Zone, Ethiopia

Tadesse Tilahun, Solomon Abate, Tadele Tilahun & Mengistie Taye

To cite this article: Tadesse Tilahun, Solomon Abate, Tadele Tilahun & Mengistie Taye (2024)
Morphological variability of Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. capsici (FOC) isolates infecting pepper
(capsicum annum L.) landraces in West Gojjam Zone, Ethiopia, Cogent Food & Agriculture, 10:1,
2322782, DOI: 10.1080/23311932.2024.2322782

To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.1080/23311932.2024.2322782

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Cogent Food & Agriculture
2024, VOL. 10, NO. 1, 2322782
https://doi.org/10.1080/23311932.2024.2322782

Food Science & Technology | Research Article

Morphological variability of Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. capsici (FOC)
isolates infecting pepper (capsicum annum L.) landraces in West Gojjam
Zone, Ethiopia
Tadesse Tilahuna,b, Solomon Abatec, Tadele Tilahund and Mengistie Tayea,e
a
Institute of Biotechnology, Bahir Dar University, Bahir Dar, Ethiopia; bCollege of Natural and Computational Sciences, Debre Tabor
University, Debre Tabor, Ethiopia; cEthiopian Institute of Agricultural Research, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia; dCollege of Natural and
Computational Sciences, Injibara University, Injibara, Ethiopia; eCollege of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences, Bahir Dar
University, Bahir Dar, Ethiopia

ABSTRACT ARTICLE HISTORY

Pepper is an important source of income for Ethiopian smallholder farmers. However, Fusarium Received 4 July 2023
wilt has been hindering pepper production and productivity. This study characterized the Revised 13 February 2024
Accepted 20 February
morphological variability of Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. capsici isolates collected from potential
2024
pepper production areas of West Gojjam, Ethiopia. A total of 196 symptomatic plant samples
were collected and screened. Based on the macroscopic and microscopic characteristics, 67 F. KEYWORDS
oxysporum f. sp. capsici isolates were characterized. The distribution of F. oxysporum varied Ethiopia; fusarium; isolate;
among districts, of which the largest number of the Fusarium isolates was recorded in morphology; pepper;
Womberma (36%) and the lowest was in Burie Zuria (15%). The frequency of F. oxysporum variability; wilt
occurrence varied in different plant parts including, roots (56.2%), stem (31.7%), and leaf REVIEWING EDITOR
(12.1%). Colony color varied from white (43.28%) to pink (10.45%). The radial growth of the Cristalografía, Mineralogía
colony varied from 2.5 – 4.5 cm on the 7th day of culture, of which, 6 isolates had >3 cm, 37 y Química Agrícola,
isolates had 3-4 cm, and 24 isolates had >4 cm radial growth. Two types of shapes were Seville, Spain
recorded with almost similar proportions (50.75% filamentous and 49.25% round). From the
SUBJECTS
total 67 identified isolates, 74.6% had adherent mycelial and 26.4% of them had fluffy growth Agriculture &
pattern. Microscopically, all the isolates produced micro- and macro-conidia. The microconidia Environmental Sciences;
had oval (67.16%), kidney (29.85%), and globose (2.99%) shaped morphology. The macroconidia Microbiology; Mycology;
were with curved (25) and straight (42) shaped morphology, with three to five septa. The Biology; Biotechnology
isolates had an entire (73%) and filiform margin (27%). Further, pathogenicity and molecular
characterization needs to be conducted.

PUBLIC INTEREST STATEMENT

Hot pepper is one of the most important vegetable cum spice crops valued for its aroma,
taste, flavor, pungency and to make food tasty. Especially for most Ethiopians, most foods
without the presence of hot pepper as a spice are tasteless. However, the production and
productivity of this important crop has become reduced due to different biotic and abiotic
factors. Among the biotic factors, fungal disease caused by Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. capsici.
contributes for the major yield reduction of hot pepper. Hence, isolation and characterization
based on morphological and cultural characters of this disease is a benchmark for enhancing
production and productivity of hot pepper through screening resistant pepper variety from
pathogenic isolates and breeding of resistant pure lines.

Introduction Solanaceae and genus Capsicum with a chromosome

number of 2n = 24 (Dias et al., 2013). Hot pepper is a
Hot pepper (Capsicum annuum L.) is one of the most very important multipurpose crop, which is consumed
important vegetable spices in the world, which is as a vegetable, spice, or condiment in its fresh, dried,
among the oldest domesticated crops in the Western or processed forms (Belay & Tsehaye, 2020). It is also
Hemisphere (Kim et al., 2014). It belongs to the family serve as an industrial raw material for the

CONTACT Mengistie Taye mengistietaye@gmail.com; mengistietaye@yahoo.com Institute of Biotechnology, Bahir Dar University, Bahir Dar,
Ethiopia
© 2024 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unre-
stricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. The terms on which this article has been published allow the
posting of the Accepted Manuscript in a repository by the author(s) or with their consent.
2 T. TILAHUN ET AL.

manufacturing of oleoresin (Kibiru et al., 2021). Besides losses is presently a main constraint of hot pepper
its agricultural importance, it has immense applications production in the Amhara Region each year (Abebe &
in medicine (Alehegn et al., 2022). Therefore, hot pep- Abera, 2019). Fungal disease, Fusarium oxysporum is a
per production is a vital agribusiness worldwide, where serious disease attacking pepper plants and causing
the market stimulates domestic farming and increased yield loss (Assefa et al., 2015). Fusarium wilt is the
employment and source of income generation from leading fungal disease in Southern Nations,
agriculture (Dessie et al., 2019). Ethiopia is gifted with Nationalities, and People’s Regional State (SNNPR) of
suitable agro-ecological zones for horticultural crop Ethiopia (Mekonen & Chala, 2014). FOC is the most
production including pepper (Belay & Tsehaye, 2020). important causative agent of severe vascular wilts
Nationally, among all crops, vegetables cover 1.08% of and root rot diseases in hot pepper and ultimately
the farming area, of which 69.31% dedicated to hot brings heavy economic losses (Nelson, 1992).
pepper production (CSA, 2006). In Ethiopia, pepper is According to Teshome (2012), in his study at Bako
mainly produced by smallholder farmers in Amhara, areas of Ethiopia, Fusarium wilt showed a significant
Southern Nations Nationalities and Peoples Regional yield loss that ranged between 68 to 71%. FOC is one
States (SNNPR), and Oromia regions (Abebe et al., 2019). of the most frequently occurring microorganisms iso-
The total area coverage, production and productiv- lated from pepper wilting disease (Abebe & Abera,
ity of hot pepper in the country was estimated to be 2019). Alehegn et al. (2022), also confirmed that FOC
174,463.6 ha, 3,131,154 quintals and 17.95 qt/ha was the predominant wilt complex disease causal
respectively, in 2019/2020 main cropping season (CSA, pathogens associated with diseased hot pepper stems
2020). In Amhara region area coverage, production and roots in the studied areas. It is a soil-borne patho-
and productivity, was 71,857.92 ha, 1,362,342.45 quin- gen and is cosmopolitan which spreads in all types of
tals and 18.96 qt/ha from 962,199 smallholder farmers soil throughout the world (Burgess & Summerell,
for the same year. Thus, the contribution of Amhara 1992). However, its effect is more aggravated and
region for the country pepper production was 43.5% attacks hot peppers during the rainy season (Ferniah
and 68% of its production in the region being sup- et al., 2014). The most common symptoms of this dis-
plied to market (Gobie, 2019). In addition in West ease are damping-off (Rivera-Jiménez et al., 2018),
Gojjam Zone, the place where our field experiment partial wilting, vascular discoloration, stunting growth,
was conducted, average estimated hot pepper pro- yellowing of older leaves, complete wilting, and death
duction was 700,646.71 quintals and yield of 19.99 qt/ of plants (Velarde-Félix et al., 2018). Nowadays, this
ha from 35,050.07 ha of land for the year 2019/2020 disease is becoming more destructive and farmers are
main cropping season (CSA, 2020), Hence, this zone forced to quit and shift their cultivation to other crops
contributed 51.4% for the regional pepper production. species (Endriyas et al., 2020).
Regardless of its importance, the production prac- Preliminary identification of Fusarium species is
tice of the crop has faced different challenges nation- mainly based on cultural and morphologically unique
ally and regionally (Alehegn et al., 2022). The current characteristics such as shape and size of macro and
average national level productivity of hot pepper microconidia, the number of septation in macroco-
(17.95 qt/ha) showed a significant yield reduction nidia, presence or absence of chlamydospores as
compared to the national average yield of 21.96 qt/ha well as colony appearance, pigmentation, and growth
for the year 2005/2006 main cropping season (CSA, rate on Potato Dextrose Agar (PDA) medium
2006). It is even lower to that of the national in (Campbell & Johnson, 2013; Leslie & Summerell, 2008).
Amhara Region pepper growing areas (Abebe & In Ethiopia, several scholars assessed and identi-
Abera, 2019). The major production constraints of the fied pepper wilt diseases (Abebe & Abera, 2019;
crop are the use of local varieties, unscientific agricul- Assefa et al., 2015; Mekonen & Chala, 2014; Mengist
tural practices, and increasing prevalence as well as et al., 2019), characterized Fusarium species (Getnet,
intensity of fungal, bacterial, and viral diseases (Fekadu 2019), isolated and characterized wilt-causing patho-
& Dandena, 2006; Sharma et al., 2021). Faisal & gens of local growing pepper (Oljira & Berta, 2020),
Muhammad (2011), stated that the productivity of and studied the cultural and morphological variabil-
hot pepper is declining slowly each year because of ity of FOC isolates (Endriyas et al., 2020). The above
different pests and pathogens which result heavy mentioned scholars except for Endriyas et al. (2020)
yield losses. Among biotic factors, diseases are one of concentrated on the general identification of the
the most vital limiting factors in red pepper produc- causal agents of pepper wilt in different parts of
tion and it causes losses of 25-90% (Mengist et al., Ethiopia and confirmed that FOC was the most
2019). Wilt disease which causes enormous yield destructive fungal pathogen of pepper wilt but failed
 Cogent Food & Agriculture 3

to describe its detailed characteristics. In addition, Ethiopia. The districts included JabiTehinan, Burie
most assessments and identification of pepper dis- Zuria, Dembecha Zuria, and Womberma (Figure 1).
eases were focusing on some geographical locations These areas are known for their high pepper pro-
including Central Rift valley, Southern Ethiopia, West duction potential and incidence of Fusarium wilt.
Shewa Zone, Central Gondar, and Gurage Zone. The study areas are situated in the Northwest direc-
Gebre kiristos and his colleagues described the mor- tion of Addis Ababa at 385 km and 171 km South
phological variability of FOC in the central rift valley direction from the capital city of Amhara Region,
of Ethiopia (Gabrekiristos et al., 2020). However, to Bahir Dar (Motbainor et al., 2016). The sampling
the best of our knowledge, in the Amhara region, areas are located between the geographical coordi-
detailed characterization of FOC has not been per- nates of 10°24’49” to 10°41’53” north latitude and
formed so far. Therefore, the objective of this study 36°51’20” to 37°20’53” east longitude. Data related
was to characterize the morphological variability of to disease incidence and severity were collected
FOC isolates collected from the main pepper produc- from four districts during 2021 main cropping sea-
ing areas of Amhara region, West Gojjam, Ethiopia. son. The altitudinal range, mean minimum and
maximum temperatures, total seasonal annual rain-
Materials and methods fall, and mean relative humidity of the studied dis-
tricts are presented in Table 1. May–October (six
Description of the study area growing months) meteorological data were obtained
The study was conducted in major pepper-growing from the National Meteorology Agency, Bahir Dar
area of West Gojjam Zone, Amhara Regional State, Branch, Ethiopia.

Figure 1. Study area map.

Table 1. Altitudinal range, mean minimum and maximum temperatures, total annual rainfall and mean relative humidity of
studied areas in West Gojjam Zone, Ethiopia during 2021 main cropping seasons.
Temperature (T°c) Total annual
District Altitude (m.a.s.l.) Max Min rainfall (mm) Relative Humidity (%)
Womberma 1853-2104 25.1 12.6 1361.1 79.8
Burie Zuria 1200-2215 23.8 11.6 958.2 84.5
Jabi Tehinan 1650-2132 23.9 12.2 937.0 80.7
Dembecha Zuria 1500-2560 26.5 10.7 1129.8 76.2
Altitude ranges of the studied districts were recorded using a global positioning system and m. a.s.l. = meters above sea level. Max = maximum
temperature and Min = minimum temperature.
4 T. TILAHUN ET AL.

Sampling techniques and sample collection field, disease data were recorded using a 1 m × 1 m
area quadrant at five points by moving in an
The sampled districts (Womberma, Burie Zuria,
X-fashion transect from the initial point. Five obser-
Dembecha Zuria, and Jabi Tehnnan) were purposively
vations were made per field, and mean incidence
selected based on the extend of pepper production and severity values were used to analyze the data.
and expansion potential (Figure 2). Out of four dis- Disease infected plants in each quadrant were col-
tricts, sixteen major hot pepper producing farmer lected for diagnostic use. During the survey period in
associations were purposively selected based on hot each infected field, plant samples were collected
pepper production, productivity, and incidence of from different plant parts such as root, stem, and
diseases potential to represent the major hot pepper leaf which showed suspected typical wilting symp-
growing areas of the district. Random sampling tech- toms of different diseases (Abebe & Abera, 2019).
nique was used to select hot pepper producer farm- The typical wilting symptoms including leaf yellow-
ers. Hot pepper cultivated fields were sampled ing, dropping, and partial or complete plant wilting
randomly at intervals of 5-10 km from initial field by (Akbar et al., 2018). Based on field size and disease
following all accessible roads and distances between incidence, 3–5 samples were collected per field
each farmer’s fields depended on the topography (Altinok et al., 2019). A total of 196 samples were col-
and the relative importance of hot pepper cultiva- lected and maintained separately in labeled paper
tion within each district. A total of 96 farmer’s field bags. The collected samples were placed in an ice-
were assessed for sample collection and inspected box and used for morphological characterization. The
for disease incidence and severity. In each farmer’s characterization was made at Injibara University,

Figure 2. Procedures followed for sample collection and isolation of FOC from Pepper in Amhara region.
 Cogent Food & Agriculture 5

College of Natural and Computational Sciences, development of mycelial growth of Fusarium

Microbiology and Parasitology Laboratory. The sam- (Getaneh et al., 2021; Hafizi et al., 2013). When the
ples were preserved at 4 °C until isolation in the lab- mycelia emerged, the colonies were sub-cultured
oratory (Akbar et al., 2018; Endriyas et al., 2020). The onto a fresh sterile PDA slants to obtain a pure cul-
sample collection was performed between September ture. Sub-culturing was made till a distinct/pure cul-
and October 2021. ture was obtained and a pure culture of each isolate
was stored on PDA slants at 4 °C for further work
Disease incidence and severity (Hami et al., 2021).

The incidence and severity of the disease were

assessed from quadrants at approximately 20-50 m
Data collection and characterization methods
far from each other (Assefa et al., 2015). The inci-
dence of wilt disease was estimated using the Data related to the prevalence of disease incidence,
formula; and symptoms of wilt disease in the field were col-
X lected through field observation and interviews with
Disease Incidence ( % ) = x100, farmers. Cultural and morphological characters of the
N
fungal pathogen data were observed and recorded
where X, is the number of infected plants and N is under laboratory conditions. Colony color, pigmenta-
the total number of plants observed. tion, margin, radial growth, shape, and mycelial growth
The severity of the disease was determined using pattern were recorded from the 7th day after subcul-
a 0 to 4 indexing scale (Paz-Lago et al., 2000). The ture following standard manuals (Campbell & Johnson,
scales are 0 = healthy plants; 1 = initiation of wilt 2013; Leslie & Summerell, 2008; Nelson et al., 1983;
symptoms; 2 = wilting, yellowing, and browning up to Shahnazi et al., 2012). Microscopic data were recorded
50%; 3 = plants wilted, yellow-brown discoloration using a compound microscope (400x) (Biri &
more pronounced, and entire plants started dying Gomathinayagam, 2021) by preparing specimens from
(75%); 4 = complete drying and dying of the entire the 14 days grown mycelium. The prepared specimens
plant due to wilt. Therefore, the percentage of dis- were stained with lactophenol cotton blue. Observations
ease severity was computed as follows: on presence of macro-and micro-conidia, number of
septations in macro-conidia, presence and absence of
Diseases everity  %     v  n  /  4  N    100  chlamydospore, apical cell morphology, basal cell mor-
phology, macro-conidia morphology, micro-conidia
where, v = numerical/rate value of infected plants; morphology, and sporulation capacity of the isolates
n = number of infected plants in each scale; N = total were recorded (Mohammed et al., 1998). Macroconidia
number of plants examined and 4 = the highest and microconidia were differentiated based on length
infection rate. and presence or absence of septation, while chlamydo-
spores were differentiated based on their absence or
presence (Akbar et al., 2018; Campbell & Johnson,
Isolation of FOC isolates 2013; Leslie & Summerell, 2008; Nelson et al., 1983).
The collected samples were thoroughly washed with
running tap water. The washed parts were cut into
Data analysis
small pieces (5 mm long) (Endriyas et al., 2020) and
surface sterilized by soaking in 70% ethanol and The percentage data of pepper wilting record in dis-
0.5% sodium hypochlorite solution (NaOCl) for 30 sec- ease incidence (DI) and disease severity index (DSI)
onds and 1 min, respectively (Oljira & Berta, 2020). will be transformed using Arcsin transformation func-
The surface sterilized samples were rinsed for 1 min. tion in order to ensure homogeneity of the variance
in three successive changes of sterile distilled water and normalize the distribution of data variability.
and dried on filter paper (Altinok et al., 2019; Biri & Then the normalized data were analyzed using
Gomathinayagam, 2021). Then, the samples were descriptive statistics such as mean, standard devia-
placed on PDA plates (9 cm diameter) supplemented tion, frequency, and percentages procedures of sta-
with chloramphenicol (0.25 g/l) to restrict bacterial tistical package for the social sciences (SPSS) version
growth (Demissie et al., 2020; Kebede et al., 2020). 22. The data on colony characteristics and micro-
All plates were labeled, sealed with parafilm and scopic studies were analyzed by descriptive statistics,
incubated at 25 °C for 7 days to allow the because to analyze using inferential statistics they
6 T. TILAHUN ET AL.

don’t have dependent and independent variable for and fruit harvest. Table 2 shows the proportion of
qualitative and quantitative data recorded during the isolates in the districts. The observed symptoms of
laboratory evaluations. infected plants included wilting, vascular discolor-
ation, yellowing and shedding of leaves, and com-
plete death of plants (Figure 3).
Results Generally, Burie Zuria district recorded the highest
Disease symptoms, incidence, and severity disease incidence (56.6%) and severity (52.5%)
whereas Womberma district recorded the lowest dis-
During the assessment, it was observed that most of ease incidence (37.8%) and severity (37.2%). Disease
the pepper plants got dried up before maturation incidence and severity recorded a direct relationship.
Both were significantly correlated at (p < 0.05) level of
Table 2. Number of samples collected and the proportion of significance (Table 3).
isolates in the district and study area.
Proportion of Proportion of
No of No of isolate from FOC from Isolation and pure culture preparation
samples FOC the collected total isolates
District collected isolates sample (%) (%) A total of 67 (34.18% of the total samples) isolates
Womberma 52 24 46.15 35.82 had the characteristics described for FOC from the
Burie Zuria 48 10 20.83 14.93
Jabi Tehinan 48 19 39.58 28.36 196 samples collected in the study area (Table 2),
Dembecha 48 14 29.17 20.89 based on the colony characteristics on PDA and
Zuria
Total/Average 196 67 33.93 25
microscopic examination on a compound microscope.
Mean 49 16.75 33.93 25 Accordingly, a total of 24, 10, 19, and 14 isolates col-
S.D. 2 6 11 9 lected from Womberma, Burie Zuria, Jabi Tehinan and
Maximum 52 24 46.15 35.82
Minimum 48 10 20.83 14.93 Dembecha Zuria districts respectively, were also con-
FOC: Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. capsici, S.D. = Standard Deviation. sidered as FOC. The highest disease incidence was

Figure 3. Symptoms of pepper wilt in the assessed field. (a) Wilted pepper plants; (b) Dead plants due to disease; (c) Dropped
leaves and flowers; (d) Dark-brown vascular tissue discoloration 30 cm above the base of plants. The photos were taken during
the experiment by the first author– Tadesse Tilahun.
 Cogent Food & Agriculture 7

recorded in Burie Zuria district (56.6%) and the lowest Womberma district, the majority of the isolates (19)
in Womberma district (37.8%; Figure 4). had adherent type of growth pattern and lesser
number of isolates (7) produced an adherent growth
pattern in Dembecha Zuria district. The maximum
Morphological characterization of FOC isolates number of isolates with fluffy pattern (7) were
recorded in Dembecha Zuria district. Regarding the
For differentiation of the isolates, the morphological
colony shape, 34 isolates had filamentous and 33
characteristics such as mycelial growth pattern (ele-
with circular shape.
vation), colony color, shape, and margin of the col-
In Womberma district, maximum number of iso-
ony were evaluated on the 7th day after incubation
lates (17) recorded filamentous colony shape whereas
(DAI) (Table 2). According to the fungal radial growth,
the circular shape colony (15) were recorded in
most of the isolates were fast-growing. The mycelial
JabiTehinan district. Based on the margin of the col-
growth (in cm) of the isolates ranged between 2 to
ony, 49 isolates had an entire margin whereas 18 iso-
4.5 after 7 days of incubation. In three districts (Burie
lates had a filiform margin. Both Womberma and
Zuria, JabiTehinan, and Dembecha Zuria) most of the
JabiTehinan districts had an equal number of isolates
isolates (6, 17, and 10), respectively, recorded 3-3.5 cm
(16) that have an entire margin. Buria Zuria had the
mycelial growth (diameter in cm). In Womberma dis-
least number of isolates (6) with entire margin. All
trict, a larger number of isolates (15) had 3.6-4.5 cm
the characteristics are mentioned in Table 4 and pic-
radial growth. From 67 isolates, a few numbers (6) of
torial evidence are described in Figures 6 and 7.
isolates had lesser radial growth (2-2.9 cm) in all the
districts. During incubation, the colony produced dif-
ferent colours on the plates such as light pink, pink,
Microscopic features of Fusarium oxysporum
white, creamy white, and cottony white (Figure 5).
isolate
Maximum number of isolates (29) produced white
color and only one isolate in JabiTehinan district The microscopic examination was focusing on the
recorded creamy white mycelial color. Light pink col- morphological features like the shape, presence or
ony color was also observed in 28 isolates, which absence, and size of the conidia, and the presence or
was equivalent to the occurrence of white color. The absence of the chlamydospore (Table 5). It was
results of the mycelial growth pattern revealed two revealed that all the isolates produced two types of
different patterns namely adherent smooth/flat and conidia i.e. micro-and macro-conidia. The observed
fluffy growths. Fifty isolates produced an adherent microconidia were oval and kidney like-shaped. In all
growth pattern and 17 had a fluffy pattern. In the isolates, the number of microconidia was more

Table 3. Statistical test/analysis of incidence and severity.

Variable N Mean Standard deviation (SD) Coefficient of variation (cv) Standard error
Incidence (%) 96 49.95 8.45 16.92 4.2
Severity (%) 96 46.73 6.70 14.33 3.3
Note: N: Number of observations.

Figure 4. The relationship between disease incidence and severity index in the study area in each district.
8 T. TILAHUN ET AL.

than that of macroconidia. The macroconidia were (16.4%) produced sporulation at a medium level. Poor
curved and straight-shaped, with three to five septa- sporulation was observed in two isolates (3%) of the
tions. Furthermore, all the isolates produced chlam- total isolates, viz. 4WBMr2 and 2BZZs2.
ydospores in single and pair forms at either terminal
or intercalary positions (Figure 8).
The occurrence of FOC in different plant parts
There were variations in the number of septations
in the macroconidia. The number of septa varied from From the collected 196 samples, FOC could be iso-
1 to 5. Maximum number of isolates (65.7%) produced lated only from 67 samples (Figure 9). The isolated
macro conidia with 3 septations. The least frequent FOC was found distributed throughout all parts of
septations was 4 which was recorded in 2 isolates the pepper plant. However, the FOC disease was
(2.99%) of the total isolates (Table 4). Based on the more prevalent in the roots (36) followed by stems
ability of isolates to produce conidia within the micro- (22). Less incidence was observed on the leaves (9). In
scopic field (400X), the isolates were divided into three all the districts, the incidence of FOC was observed
categories viz. poor sporulation (1-10 spores in the on roots.
microscopic field), medium sporulation (11-100 conidia
in the microscopic field), and good sporulation (>100
Discussion
conidia in the microscopic field (Rajendran et al.,
2018). From the total isolates, 54 (80.6%) of the iso- In this study, the symptom, incidence, severity, distri-
lates produced good sporulation while 11 isolates bution, and morphological variability of FOC were

Figure 5. Colony color of some representative pictures of the culture (a) White, (b) Cottony white, (c) Creamy white, (d) Light
Pink, (e) Pink.

Table 4. The number of FOC isolates with morphological characteristics.

Number of FOC isolates
Radial growth (cm) Colony color Growth pattern Shape Margin
District 2-2.9 3-3.5 3.6-4.5 White Pink L-pink C-white Co-white Adherent Fluffy Filamentous Circular Entire Filiform
Womberma 3 15 6 13 1 10 0 0 19 5 17 7 16 8
Burie Zuria 2 2 6 5 2 3 0 0 9 1 6 4 6 4
Jabi Tehinan 0 2 17 6 1 10 1 1 15 4 4 15 16 3
Dembecha 1 3 10 5 3 5 0 1 7 7 7 7 11 3
Zuria
Total 6 22 39 29 7 28 1 2 50 17 34 33 49 18
Legends: L-pink = light pink, C-white = creamy white, Co-white = cottony white, and FOC= Fusarium oxysporum f .sp. capsici.
 Cogent Food & Agriculture 9

Figure 6. Colony shape (A&B), margin (C&D), and growth (E&F) pattern of FOC cultures. (a) Circular, (b) Filamentous, (c) Entire,
(d) Filiform, (e) Fluffy, (f) Adherent smooth.

Figure 7. Comparison of each colony characteristics of FOC isolates in West Gojjam Zone of Ethiopia.

Table 5. Microscopic features of FOC isolates collected from diseased pepper plants.
Number of FOC isolates
Microconidia Macroconidia No of septate in Level of Conidia
morphology morphology Basal morphology macroconidia Production
District Oval Kidney-shaped Straight Curved Foot-shaped Blunt Pointed 1 2 3 4 5 Poor Medium High
Womberma 16 8 16 8 7 3 14 0 6 15 1 2 1 5 18
Burie Zuria 4 6 6 4 6 4 0 2 0 8 0 0 1 2 7
Jabi Tehinan 15 4 10 9 5 0 14 1 1 15 0 2 0 4 15
Dembecha 13 1 9 5 3 3 8 3 4 6 1 0 0 0 14
Zuria
Total 48 19 41 26 21 10 36 6 11 44 2 4 2 11 54
10 T. TILAHUN ET AL.

Figure 8. Microscopic characteristics of FOC isolates. (a) Oval to kidney-shaped microconidia, (b) Slightly curved, thick-walled,
and septated macroconidia, (c) Intercalary chlamydospore, (d) Paired terminal chlamydospore.

Figure 9. The frequency of FOC abundance in each part of pepper plant.

investigated using standard procedures. Accordingly, were similar to the symptoms of FOC and this result
during the field observation various disease symp- is in line with the findings of Velarde-Félix et al. (2018)
toms like wilting, vascular discoloration, and complete who stated that symptomatic plants had wilting,
plant death were observed. Most of these symptoms flower abortion, vascular discoloration, and dead plants.
 Cogent Food & Agriculture 11

The incidence and severity of disease showed also reported by Endriyas et al. (2020) who reported
variability within and across the districts. The average that based on the fungal radial growth, isolates were
disease incidence of 37.8%, 56.6%, 50.8%, 54.6%, and grouped as sluggish growers (2.4-2.9 cm), intermediate
severity of 37.2%, 52.5%, 47.3%, and 49.9%, respec- growers (3-3.5 cm), and fast growers (3.6-4.5 cm). In
tively, was in Womberma, Burie Zuria, Jabi Tehinan our study, 6 isolates viz. 1WBMr1, 2WBMr3, 2BZZs2,
and Dembecha Zuria Districts. Assefa et al. (2015), 1BZF1, and 1DBA1 (8.96%) of the total isolates were
reported that disease incidence and severity varied considered as slow growers. The other 22 (32.83%)
from season to season and from location to location. isolates were medium growers and the remaining 39
This existing variation in disease incidence and sever- (58.21%) isolates were the fastest growers.
ity among districts might be attributed to the differ- During incubation, colony color on PDA showed
ence in the prevalent climatic conditions in the predominately light pink to white mycelia. Fusarium
districts. Joshi et al. (2012) and Momol et al. (2001) isolates could showed sparse to abundant mycelia
described that wilt disease is influenced by environ- and red, white, purple, brown, and pink colonies on
mental conditions like soil temperature, soil moisture, PDA medium (Leslie & Summerell, 2008; Isaac et al.,
and soil type that influenced the growth and devel- 2018). Similarly, Rajendran et al. (2018) have also
opment of soil microbial populations. In addition, confirmed the presence of different colony colors like
Pandey et al. (2019) reported that environmental fac- light pink, pink, dark pink, creamy white, pale white
tors such as temperature and relative humidity had a with pink, creamy white with pink, milky white, and
direct positive correlation between the development pinkish white. The occurrence of different colour in
of Alternaria alternata and chili fruit rot diseases Fusarium species may be due to the presence of spe-
under natural conditions. Hence in this study, Burie cific pigments such as carotenoid and polyketide
zuria district which have low altitude, recorded the molecules derived pigments which is produced as a
highest disease incidence (56.6%) and severity byproduct during mycelial growth and enzymatic
(52.5%). Alehegn et al. (2022) reported that possible activities (Demissie et al., 2020). The results of the
risks of wilt pressure would occur more frequently at mycelial growth pattern showed two different pat-
lower altitude ranges than at higher altitudes. The terns namely adherent smooth/flat and fluffy growths.
lowest disease incidence (37.8%) and severity (37.2%) Most of the mycelial growth pattern was adherent
was recorded in Womberma district. Similarly, Rao type 50 (74.6%), whereas 17 (25.4%) of the isolates
(2014) reported that symptoms of wilt disease are showed fluffy patterns. Regarding the colony shape,
more visible at higher temperatures than at lower out of 67 isolates, 34 (50.75%) had filamentous and
temperatures in a cropping season. Disease incidence 33 (49.25%) had circular shape. This study is in line
and severity had a directly proportional relationship, with that of Endriyas et al. (2020) who stated that
when disease incidence increased severity also the presence of 21 round and 28 filamentous shape
increased. isolates. Based on the margin of the colony 49 iso-
From the total collected 196 wilted pepper sam- lates (73%) showed entire and 18 (27%) of the iso-
ples, based on their morphological characters, 67 lates revealed filiform margin.
(34.18%) isolates were identified as FOC, the highest Morphological features like shape, presence or
isolate was recorded from Womberma (24) district absence, and size of the conidia, and the presence or
whereas the lowest was from Burie zuria district (10). absence of the chlamydospore were studied. All of
This variability for the occurrence of FOC isolates the isolates produced two types of conidia such as
may be due to the variations in environmental con- micro and macroconidia. In most isolates, the number
ditions in the districts. of microconidia was more than that of macroconidia.
The identified isolates had different cultural and The macroconidia were curved and straight-shaped,
morphological variability. Hafizi et al. (2013) reported with three to five septations. Similar results were
that the colony appearances of FOC on PDA were observed by Angel et al. (2016) who reported that
highly variable. According to the fungal radial growth, the isolates showed hyaline, oval, and kidney-shaped
isolates were grouped into three growth types such as microconidia without septations and three to five
slow growers (2-2.9 cm), medium growers (3-3.5 cm), septatations macroconidia with curved and straight
and fast growers (3.6-4.5 cm). This result showed the shapes and gradually pointed edges. In our experi-
presence of great variability in growth rate among dif- ment, we observed 41 straight and 26 curved shaped
ferent isolates of Fusarium associated with pepper vas- isolates macroconidia and microconidia have 48 oval
cular wilt. This variation might be due to the inherited and 19 kidney shaped isolates. All the isolates have
characteristics of the pathogen. A similar result was tapered apical cell morphology with foot-shaped,
12 T. TILAHUN ET AL.

pointed, and blunt end basal morphology. shape, radial growth, and growth pattern showed
Furthermore, isolates produced chlamydospores in great variability.
single and pairs forms at both terminal and interca- There were also microscopic features variability in
lary positions. This study was supported by Rajendran macro-and micro conidia morphology, basal mor-
et al. (2018) who reported that chlamydospores were phology, level of conidia production, and number of
usually developed singly or in pairs, but they can also septations in the macroconidia. All the isolates pro-
be found in clusters or short chains sometimes. duced two types of conidia such as micro and mac-
There were variations in the number of septations roconidia. The distribution of the pathogen was
for macroconidia. The observed number of septa var- more prevalent in the roots might be due to the soil
ied from one to five. Jaywant (2016) reported that born nature of the pathogen. The results of this
FOC isolates have 1-5 septa per conidia. Repeatedly study can be utilized to prepare wilt management
occurred number of septate was three, which strategy and as a benchmark for carrying out patho-
accounts for 44 (65.67%) of the total isolates, and the genicity tests, screening of resistant pepper variety
least occurred septate was four in two isolates and breeding of resistant pure lines. However, patho-
(2.99%) of the total isolates. Similar reports showed genicity tests and molecular identification through
that the isolates of Fusarium oxysporum have most phylogenetic reconstruction should be conducted.
frequently three septa per conidia (Endriyas et al.,
2020; Jaywant, 2016). Based on the ability of isolates
Acknowledgments
to produce spores within the microscopic field
(400X), the isolates were divided into three catego- The authors would like to acknowledge Debre Tabor
ries such as poor sporulation (1-10 spores in the University, Ethiopia, for providing the first author with
study leave.
microscopic field), medium sporulation (11-100
spores in the microscopic field), and good sporula-
tion (>100 spores in the microscopic field (Rajendran Authors’ contributions
et al., 2018). From the total isolates, fifty-four (80.6%)
TT: conceived, designed, performed the experiments, anal-
of the isolate produced good sporulation while ysed and interpretation of data; drafted the manuscript;
eleven isolates (16.4%) produced sporulation at a SA: take part in the design of the experiment, commented
medium level. Poor sporulation was observed in the on the drafted manuscript, and revised the manuscript; TT:
two isolates (3%) of the total isolates, viz. 4WBMr2 take part in the lab experiment, data analysis, and interpre-
and 2BZZs2. Even though the disease was found in tation of data; MT: supervised the overall experiment, com-
mented on the drafted manuscript, and approved the
every part of the plants, the rates of occurrence of version to be published. All authors read and approved the
FOC varied in different parts of plants root (36), stem final manuscript.
(22), and leaf (9). This may be due to the soil-borne
nature of the pathogen that increased its occurrence
in the root. This study generated baseline informa- Ethics approval and consent to participate
tion on the presence, distribution, and variability of The research proposal was presented to the Institute of
FOC isolates in the study areas which can be used to Biotechnology, Bahir Dar University and approved for data
prepare wilt management strategy. Further, this study collection. An official letter was written by the Bahir Dar
can used as a benchmark pathogenicity testing, University, with a detailed description of the objective of
the study.
screening of resistant pepper variety and breeding of
resistant pure lines.
Consent for publication
Conclusion and recommendation All authors agreed for the manuscript to be published.

Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. capsici (FOC) is the most

prominent pathogen resulting in qualitative and Disclosure statement
quantitative loss of pepper yield by wilting pepper The authors declare that they have no competing interests.
plants before maturation and fruit harvest. A total
of 67 FOC isolates were characterized using mor-
phological approach which revealed the presence Funding
of different morphotypes. The macroscopic charac- The author(s) reported there is no funding associated with
teristics observed included colony color, colony the work featured in this article..
 Cogent Food & Agriculture 13

About the author identification of Fusarium species associated with vas-

cular wilt of babaco (Vasconcellea heilbornii var. pen-
Tadesse Tilahun, the first author, was born tagona Badillo). Revista de Protección Vegetal, 31(3),
in 1988 in Ethiopia. He received a Bachelor 184–193.
of Sciences (BSc) degree in Applied Assefa, M., Dawit, W., Lencho, A., & Hunduma, T. (2015).
Biology from Hawassa University, and MSc Assessment of wilt intensity and identification of causal
in Applied Genetics from Haramaya fungal and bacterial pathogens on hot pepper (Capsicum
University, Ethiopia. He has worked as a annuum L.) in Bako Tibbe and Nonno districts of West
university lecturer for two years at Samara Shewa zone, Ethiopia. International Journal of
University and for 5 years at Debre Tabor Phytopathology, 4(1), 21–28. https://doi.org/10.33687/
University, Ethiopia. As a lecturer, he has taught several phytopath.004.01.0972
courses including Principles of Genetics, Plant and Animal Belay, F., & Tsehaye, Y. (2020). Variability, association and
Breeding, Forest Genetics, Taxonomy, Biochemistry, and path coefficient analysis of green pod yield and yield
Biotechnology for undergraduate programs. He is currently components of hot pepper (Capsicum annuum L.) land-
a PhD candidate in Plant Biotechnology at Bahir Dar races at Mereb Lehke, Northern Ethiopia. Journal of Plant
University, Ethiopia. He has published more than three arti- Breeding and Crop Science, 12(1), 58–69.
cles and other group members published more than 50 Biri, B., & Gomathinayagam, P. (2021). Response of hot pep-
articles in national and international journals. His research per (Capsicum annuum L.) to major fungal diseases un-
interest includes genetics, molecular breeding, and plant der field and greenhouse conditions in Horo Guduru
biotechnology. Wollega, Oromia, Ethiopia. African Journal of Agricultural
Research, 17(6), 923–932.
Burgess, L., & Summerell, B. (1992). Mycogeography of
Fusarium: survey of Fusarium species in subtropical and
ORCID semi-arid grassland soils from Queensland, Australia.
Mycological Research, 96(9), 780–784. https://doi.
Mengistie Taye http://orcid.org/0000-0001-6795-9943
org/10.1016/S0953-7562(09)80448-6
Campbell, C. K., & Johnson, E. M. (2013). Identification of
pathogenic fungi. John Wiley & Sons.
Data availability statement CSA. (2006). Central statistical agency, agricultural sample
The data that support the findings of this study are avail- survey 2005/2006 report on area and production of
able in [Science Data Bank at http://doi.org/10.57760/ crops, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Statistical Bulletin, 1, 361.
sciencedb.0306.], reference number [10.57760/ CSA. (2006). Central statistical agency, agricultural sample
sciencedb.03069]. survey. In Report on Area and Production of Crops.
Statistical Bulletin. Addis Ababa.
CSA. (2020). Central statistical agency, the federal demo-
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