Article Sidebar
Published:
Dec 31, 2020Keywords:
Article Details
NAJ supports free online communication and exchange of knowledge as the most effective way of ensuring that the fruits of research and development practice are made widely available. It is therefore committed to open access, which, for authors, enables the widest possible dissemination of their findings and, for readers, increases their ability to discover pertinent information. The Journal adopts and uses the CC: BY license and is open access. This license lets others distribute, remix, adapt, and build upon your work, even commercially, as long as they credit you for the original creation. Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the Journal’s published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal. Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work. Copyright for articles published in this Journal is retained by the Journal.
Main Article Content
FUNGAL AND BACTERIAL PATHOGENS ASSOCIATED WITH SOFT ROT DISEASE OF SWEET POTATO (Ipomoea batatas, L. Lam)
Abstract
This study focused on screening for fungal and bacterial pathogens associated with soft rot disease of sweet
potato tuber. Standard microbiological techniques were used to characterize and identify the fungi and bacteria
isolated. The fungal and bacterial isolates were subjected to pathogenicity test to ascertain their degree of
pathogenicity. Aspergillus flavus, Botryodiplodia theobromae, Fusarium oxysporium and Erwinia spp induced
rots in the healthy sweet potato tubers at significant levels, with rot length ranging from 12.40 ±0.125mm to
15.25+0.135mm; an indication of being pathogenic. Rhizopus stolonifer, Bacillus spp and Corynebacterium
spp with rot length 7.63+0.250mm, 4.63+0.145mm, and 4.50+0.157mm respectively, were not pathogenic. The
fungal isolates pre-dominated the bacterial isolates as pathogens associated with soft rot disease in the sweet
potato tubers. This study therefore provide a benchmark upon which future research can be carried out in the
quest to reduce post-harvest loss of sweet potato tubers.
