Annona muricata L. (soursop) fruits are susceptible to fungal pathogens especially during post- harvest handling and storage and this leads to low fruit quality. In this study, we identified some fungi associated with soursop fruits using molecular tools. The internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region of the fungal 16S rRNA gene was amplified using a Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR), and the reaction product was then sequenced to determine the identity of the fungal species. The isolated fungi were identified by a blast search on the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) as Lasiodiplodia pseudotheobromae, Aspergillus niger and Aspergillus homomorphus. An evolutionary tree was constructed by the composite likelihood method to display sequence relationship and common ancestries. The isolated fungal pathogens are capable of producing harmful mycotoxins. The occurrence of these fungi can lead to huge economic losses, thereby posing a potential threat to soursop fruits in Nigeria.

Keywords : Annona muricata, Fungi, Microorganisms, Diseases, Sequencing, Phylogeny