FUNGI ASSOCIATED WITH DECAYED SWEET ORANGES (Citrus sinensis) COLLECTED FROM LAPAI, NIGER STATE, NIGERIA

This study was aimed for the isolation, characterization and identification of fungi associated with decayed sweet oranges collected from Lapai, Niger State, Nigeria. Samples of sweet oranges were collected from Police Barrack, Minna Motor Park, Badeggi Market, Soje Garrage and Unguwan Gwari from Lapai. Segments (3-5 cm) of tissue from the margins of decayed C. sinensis were cut with sterile scalpel and were placed on the prepared Sabouraud DextroseAgar in petri dishes and incubated at 28 ±1°C for 5 daysC. sinensis collected from Soje Garrage had the highest occurrence of fungal isolates 8 (32%) followed by sweet oranges from Minna Motor Park with 5 (20%) of fungal isolates, while sweet oranges from Police Barrack, Badeggi Market and Unguwan Gwari had the least occurrence of fungal isolates 4 (16%) each. The pathogenicity tests showed that the fungal isolates isolated from the decayed sweet oranges were able to produce the same signs in the healthy oranges when re-inoculated.