Laila Zidan⁽¹⁾ Walid Naffaa*⁽²⁾ and Dana Jawdat⁽³⁾

(1). Second Faculty of Agriculture, Damascus University, Seiwda, Syria.

(2). Department of Plant Protection, Faculty of Agriculture, Damascus University, Damascus, Syria.

(3). Department of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, Atomic Energy Commission, Damascus, Syria.

(*Corresponding author: Dr. Naffaa Walid. E-Mail: walid1851966@yahoo.com or ray-dya@scs-net.org).

Received: 21/12/2019                                Accepted: 21/01/2020

Abstract

Fusarium root and crown rot and head blight are the most important diseases limiting wheat production. Although there are many studies related to these two diseases in the world, few studies were conducted in Syria, where many species have been identified from different regions, based on morphological characteristics and some molecular methods. However, this study is the first report of F. torulosum associated with root and crown rot on wheat in Syria. The morphological characteristics of two isolates were accurately described on potato dextrose agar (PDA) and carnation leaf agar (CLA) medium. Partial TEF-1α gene sequence was amplified using primers ef1 / ef2. Successful PCR amplification of TEF-1α, showing a single band of ~ 700 bp, was obtained. Amplified products were subjected to automated DNA sequencing, and the sequence was compared with the sequences published on the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) website, where our isolate FH3 showed 98.04% similarity with the isolate KY659169 of F. torulosum.

Key words: Fusarium torulosum, Wheat, TEF1- α, Root and crown rot, Syria.

Full Paper in Arabic: PDF