The Diversity of Seed-Borne Fungi Associated with Soybean Grown in Southern Poland

Fungi have the potential to colonize soybean seeds in the field, during their maturation in the pods and after harvest, during storage. The aim of this study was to identify fungi inhabiting soybean seeds after storage with varying germination capacity and to evaluate their chemical composition. The research material consisted of twelve soybean seed lots collected from the fields in southern Poland and stored over winter. The germination percentage of these lots ranged between 20.67% and 81.33%. The seeds were subjected to analyses of the main chemical components and mycological analysis. Fungal isolates were subjected to taxonomic identification using microscopic methods and DNA sequencing (using internal transcribed spacer region and secondary barcoding regions). A total number of 355 fungal isolates from 16 genera were identified, with