First Report of Penicillium polonicum Causing Blue Mold on Stored Onion (Allium cepa) in Serbia (original) (raw)

Penicillium polonicum K. Zaleski is an economically important airborne fungus with a broad host range including cereals, peanuts, onions, dried meats, citrus fruits, and yam tubers (2,4). Secondary metabolites produced by this species include harmful mycotoxins penicillic acid, verucosidin, and nephrotoxic glycopeptides, which may play a role in Balkan Endemic Nephropathy (2,5). In January 2013, decayed onion bulbs (Allium cepa L. cv. Meranto) with blue mold symptoms were found causing significant economic losses at a storage facility in Stara Pazova, Serbia, and were collected. The decayed area of the bulbs was pale yellow to light brown, and tissue was soft and watery. Bluish green sporulation was abundant on the surface and inside the bulb, between decayed scales. Two isolates (designated L1a and L4p) were obtained and further characterized using morphological and molecular methods. Colonies on potato dextrose agar (PDA), Czapek yeast autolysate agar (CYA), malt extract agar (MEA...