In vitro interactions of fungi associated with anthracnose disease of Musa paradisiaca

Musa paradisiaca Linn. is a common fruit in the Philippines as well as in other countries. If not handled properly, M. paradisiaca fruits could have diseases such as anthracnose. Thus, this study was conducted mainly to isolate fungi present in anthracnose disease of M. paradisiaca fruit peels. The isolated fungal species were identified through cultural, morphological and molecular approaches. A total of nine fungal species were identified from the peel of M. paradisiaca, infected with anthracnose disease. Using ITS primers, blast analysis revealed that fungal species were identified as Aspergillus flavus (99.47%), A. niger (97.12%), A. tamarii (97.47%), Aureobasidium melanogenum (99.60%), Cladosporium cladosporioides (99.80%), Daldinia eschscholzii (98.83%), Fusarium chlamydosporum (97.50%), Fusarium sp. (99.60%) and Penicillium citrinum (99.41%).