Mycoflora Analysis of Hybrid Sorghum Grain Collected from Different Locations in South Texas

Mycoflora characterization of sorghum grain collected from different locations in Texas during the 2008 and 2009 growing seasons revealed Alternaria spp. as the dominant genus. At the beginning of grain development to soft dough stage, Alternaria spp. accounted for 66% of the recovered fungal species in 2008 and 55.8% in 2009. At grain maturity in 2009, Alternaria spp. represented 66.8% of the recovered fungal species across locations, followed by Bipolaris spp. (12.8%), C. lunata (6.8%) and other Fusarium spp. (6.8%). Other fungal taxa recovered from sorghum grain included F. semitectum, F. thapsinum, Aspergillus spp. Phoma spp. Colletotrichum spp. and Rhizopus spp. In conclusion, Alternaria spp. was the most dominant fungal genus recovered from sorghum grain collected from different locations in southern Texas. However, there is little or no information on the reaction of sorghum hybrids in the region against Alternaria spp.