Occurrence of Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. cumini in the Island of Chios, Greece

Abstract

A severe disease of cumin causing pre-mature plant death was observed in the island of Chios, Greece. Disease symptoms included sudden red-brown shrivelling of the foliage, growth retardation and pre-harvest plant death. From plants showing early disease symptoms Fusarium oxysporum (F.o.) was consistently isolated. In artificial inoculations, representative isolates from this fungus species were found to be pathogenic on cumin, confirming the belonging to the f. sp. cumini. This is the first report of F.o. f.sp. cumini in Greece.