This study had as objectives: to determine the most adequate method for detection and identification of sugarcane seedborne fungi; to characterize the associated fungi; to verify the incidences and to relate the fungical incidence in these seeds with the conditions where they were produced. To know the most adequate method of detection, two substrates were compared in Petri dishes: filter paper on agar-water culture medium and only filter paper. Glass and plastic Petri plates were utilized, to verify the recipient influence. It was also compared two light regimens (12h alternating cycles of light and darkness and continuous darkness). The seeds were kept during seven days under constant temperature of 28 ± 2ºC, when the evaluations were proceeded. The requirements for comparison of the methods were sensitivity, economicity and practicity. After the determination of the most adequate method, were done health tests of 29 crosses of the years 2002, 2003 and 2004, to characterize the seedborne fungi and verify their incidences. Later, these incidences were compared to the conditions of temperature and relative humidity from where the seeds were produced at the breeding program. The method considered most appropriated, in agreement with the analyzed parameters, was the filter paper in plastic Petri plate and the incubation under light regimen (12h alternating cycles of light and darkness). The detected fungi were: Alternaria alternata; Aspergillus sp.; Bipolaris sacchari; three distinct morphologic groups (GM) of the Bipolaris genera; two morphological groups of the Cladosporium; Colletotrichum sp.; three morphological groups of Curvularia; Epicoccum sp.; Fusarium verticillioides; Fusarium semitectum; Leptosphaerulina sp.; Nigrospora sp.; Penicillium sp.; Periconia sp.; Phoma herbarum; Rhizopus sp. and Trichoderma sp. The most frequently found were: Bipolaris sacchari; Bipolaris spp.; Cladosporium spp.; Curvularia spp.; Fusarium verticillioides; Fusarium semitectum and Phoma herbarum. When the incidence percentage of the diverse fungi was compared with the seed production conditions, the relation of temperature and relative humidity with fungical incidence was not noticed. It was considered that the incidence's variations can be related to different sources of inoculum where the plants were crossed or to genetic characteristics of the seeds.
Substract; Light regimen; Petri dishes; Fungical incidence
