Ntsomboh-Ntsefong Godswill^{1, 2,}, Epoh-Nguea Toussaint³, Madi- Galdima¹, Nsimi-Mva Armand^{4, 2}, Ngando-Ebongue Georges Frank¹, Kounga Tagne Samuel³, Mpondo Mpondo Emmanuel³, Dibong Didier⁵

Vascular wilt disease caused by the fungus Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. elaeidis (F.o.e) is one of the major diseases of oil palm (Elaeis guineensis Jacq.) in the South-West region of Cameroon. In order to document the F.o.e isolation and characterization procedures, a 3 months study was carried out in palm plantations around IRAD Ekona and in the palm pathology laboratory located in the South-West region of Cameroon. Some 30 isolates of F.o.e and 10 g of infected soil were collected on and around infected oil palm trees from the field and used to appreciate various morphological characters that influence their aptitude to persist in the soil and on the host. The in vitro mycelial growth, sporulation (conidia), growth rate, biomass and the other characteristics as well as the correlation of the isolates in the culture media were recorded. Results showed that the isolates develop very quickly in the Medium for Mycelium (MM) contrary to PDA medium. In MM, the conidial stocks developed and filled the Petri dish in about 3 days contrary to the filamentous fungal stocks which took about 7 days to fill the Petri dish. These results can improve understanding of the procedures used and devise a selection strategy of the antagonistic microbial stocks for a biological control against oil palm vascular wilt disease.

Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. elaeidis, oil palm, vascular wilt, Elaeis guineensis Jacq., in vitro characterization