Profiling of fungi associated with Lycopersicum esculentum mill. spoilage in Nigeria using internal transcribed spacer (its) sequence of rDNA method

Lycopersicum esculentum Mill often referred to as Tomato is among important vegetable fruits widely cultivated the world over. The fruits are made up of soft endocarp which make them susceptible to spoilage by fungi mold. The fungi produce mycotoxins that are injurious and detrimental to human health. This study is aimed at profiling fungi mold associated with Lycopersicum esculentum rot /spoilage and identify the putative fungi responsible for its spoilage in Nigeria, particularly Akwa Ibom State metropolis. Tomato fruits heavily infested with fungi mold were collected and marshed using a sterile electric blender. Serial dilution of sample in normal saline were made and grown on prepared plates of Potato Dextrose Agar (PDA) to obtain pure culture. High quality genomic DNA was isolated from the samples; it was quantified and checked for purity. The DNA samples were subjected to PCR amplification. The amplicons were gel eluted, sequenced and checked for homology by using Basic local alignment search tool - BLAST. Identification was obtained from the top similarility outcomes of the samples. Four fungal isolates identified were Aspergilus spp., Fusarium spp., Mucor spp. and Penicillium citrinium. The economic importance of fungi molds are not in doubt as some of them are important precursor of diseases as they produces mycotoxins which is capable of causing diseases in both humans and animals, while other sare important in the field of medicine, in industrial production of antibiotics especially Penicillin.