Caracterización de microorganismos fúngicos asociados a los frutos de chonta (Bactris gasipaes Kunth), en el cantón Santa Clara de la provincia de Pastaza.

Abstract

The objective of this research work was to characterize the fungal microorganisms associated with chonta fruits (Bactris gasipaes Kunth), in the Santa Clara canton, Pastaza province. Three different phenotypes were defined as orange (10R 5/10), yellow (2.5Y 8/10), and red (10R 4/10) of chonta based on the Munsell color scale for plant tissues and on the Pantone color chart attacked by fungal microorganisms, followed by direct and indirect isolations of diseased fruit tissue. For the cultural characterization, morphological characteristics were described, such asshape, elevation, margin, texture, size, and pigmentation. Instead, the morphological characterization was based on the description of the structures observed with the aid of the microscope. The identified fungi were used for fungal diversity analysis using a relative abundance matrix of genera and then grouped into Operational Taxonomic Units. The symptomatologies found were rotting of soft-watery consistency with bad odor, crusts and brown spots, circular necrosis with dark exudates, mycelium that varied between white, greenish, grayish of cottony or powdery appearance, circular necrotic spots, in some cases forming circular or elongated depressions. The fungal microorganisms isolated were: Geotrichum sp., Fusarium sp., Penicillium sp., Rhizopus sp., Mucor sp., Cladosporium sp., y Ceratocystis sp. It is recommended to carry out more collections with fruits of different phenotypes and the molecular characterization of fungal microorganisms of chonta fruits.