SURVEY OF THE FUNGAL SPECIES ASSOCIATED TO SORGHUM (Sorghum bicolor L. MOENCH) IN MOROCCO: A MINI REVIEW

Sorghum (Sorghum bicolor L. Moench) production in warm and humid regions is limited by foliar diseases, seedlings and grain mold, which can be caused by a complex of pathogenic and opportunistic fungi. Anthracnose and downy mildew diseases are one of the most devastating fungal diseases which limits the production and productivity of the crop. Exserohilum turcicum is an important pathogen of both sorghum causing sorghum leaf blight. Because the same pathogen can infect and cause major losses for two of the most important grain crops. Sorghum grain mold, particularly Fusarium and Curvularia grain mold, are important on improved, short and medium duration sorghum cultivars worldwide that mature during the rainy season in humid, tropical and subtropical climates. Usually the grain mold, is used to describe the diseased appearance of sorghum grain resulting from infection by one or more pathogenic or saprophytic fungi. Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) are widely known to form a symbiosis with higher plants and enhance plant adaptation to a series of environmental stresses. Sweet sorghum (Sorghum bicolor L. Moench) is considered a promising alternative feedstock for bioalcohol production because of its sugar-rich stalk and high biomass. The large diversity of Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) associated with sorghum, some of which, known for their use in agriculture, could be used as biofertilizers for sustainable production of sorghum.