Sally Abo Akel(1), Walid Naffaa(2)*, and Mohammed Jamal Mando(1)
(1). Plant Protection Research Admin., General Commission for Scientific Agricultural Research (GCSAR), Damascus, Syria.
(2). Damascus University, Faculty of Agriculture, Department of Plant Protection, Damascus, Syria.
(*Corresponding author:Dr. Walid Naffaa. E-mail: walid1851966@yahoo.com )
Received: 14/04/2021 Accepted: 10/05/2021
Abstract
Potato Solanum tuberosum L. is one of the most important food and industrial crops worldwide. Black scurf, caused by Rhizoctonia solani Kühn. [teleomorph: Thanatephorus cucumeris (A.B. Frank) Donk], is an important disease associated with potato cultivation worldwide including Syria. Nineteen isolates of R. solani were obtained from sclerotia formed on infected potato tubers, collected from fields in Homs and Aleppo governorates during the spring season (February, March, & April), and from fields in Damascus countryside (Sa`sa) and Daraa governorates during the summer season (August, & September) in 2018-2019. The isolates varied in their morphological characteristics (colony colour and appearance), ability to form sclerotia, colour of sclerotia and where they were placed on the plate. The molecular study, using a pair of specific primers (ITS4-B / AG3-1F) for R. solani (AG3) detection, and another pair of specific primers (Rs2R1 / Rs1F2) for AG3-PT detection, showed that 78.95% of R. solani isolates belonged to the sub-group AG3- PT, except the isolates Rh4, Rh12, Rh14, Rh19 (21.05 %) that might belong to one or more of the non-AG3 anastomosis groups infecting potatoes. Up to our knowledge, this is the first study in Syria for the molecular detection of R. solani anastomosis groups.
Key words: Rhizoctonia, anastomosis groups, black scurf, potato, molecular identification.
Full paper in Arabic: pdf