Culture medium for improved production of conidia for identification and systematic studies of Fusarium pathogens.

Fusarium guttiforme and Fusarium ananatum are the etiological agents of fusariosis and fruitlet core rot in pineapple, respectively, producing mycotoxins that are harmful to the health of consumers. These two fungi are morphologically similar and difficulty in obtaining macroconidia of the species limits their identification. Different types of media are available for the culture of these pathogens, but not all of them favor F. ananatum and F. guttiforme macroconidia production. Therefore, the objective of this study was to develop a simple culture medium to improve rapid macro- and microconidia formation in both F. guttiforme and F. ananatum to facilitate taxonomic, pathogenicity and mycotoxin studies. In vitro analysis showed that basal medium with carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) was better than other media tested with the highest macroconidia production at 7 days of incubation. The highest production of microconidia was with synthetic nutrient medium (SN) at 7 days. F. ananatum produced a relatively high number of microconidia with one septum in comparison to F. guttiforme when cultured in CMC, which suggests an additional character useful for Fusarium taxonomy. CMC medium may serve as an improved alternative to culture media currently used in Fusarium research and contribute to further knowledge of the taxonomy and mycotoxins of Fusarium species.