Inventory of fungi associated with fonio (Digitaria exilis, Stapf) diseases and evaluation of the phenotype of 15 fonio mutant lineages against two isolates of Curvularia lunata in Burkina Faso

Curvulariosis is one of the main fungal diseases of fonio, appearing at the vegetative growth stage and causing yield losses of up to 45%. The aim of this study was to invent the fungal species that infest fonio and to evaluate the phenotype of 18 lines developed or generated by mutagenesis against curvulariosis. A collection survey was carried out in the main fonio production zones. The lines were screened under semi-controlled conditions using a split plot design with two factors, the first of which included the 18 fonio lines and the second isolates of Curvularia lunata. The fungal inventory identified 15 fungal genera from the seeds and leaves collected, of which Curvularia sp was the most frequent. Of the two isolates used for line screening, the Cu Sindou isolate was the more aggressive and virulent. However, V1 lines proved resistant to both isolates. To better assess the phenotyping of these lines, testing in real-life conditions in production areas, depending on their ecology, is necessary.