Identification of Fusarium spp. Associated with Potato Tubers in Upper Egypt by Morphological and Molecular Characters
Youssuf A. Gherbawy
Department of Botany and Microbiology, Faculty of Science, South Valley University, Qena, Egypt.
Mohamed A. Hussein
Department of Botany and Microbiology, Faculty of Science, South Valley University, Qena, Egypt.
Eman G. A. El-Dawy *
Department of Botany and Microbiology, Faculty of Science, South Valley University, Qena, Egypt.
Nabila A. Hassany
Department of Botany and Microbiology, Faculty of Science, South Valley University, Qena, Egypt.
Saad A. Alamri
Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, King Khalid University, Abha, 61421, Saudi Arabia and Research Center for Advanced Materials Science (RCAMS), King Khalid University, Abha, 61413, Saudi Arabia.
*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Abstract
Potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) is an important crop which holds promise for food security considering the global population growth rate. Fusarium dry rot is one of the most significant diseases of potato. To build up strategies for the control of this disease, it ought to be made primarily a correct diagnosis and identification of the pathogen. A total of 504 Fusarium isolates were recovered from potato tubers collected from Upper Egypt. Fusarium isolates were identified based on morphology and partial DNA sequencing of β-tubulin (TUB) genes. 62.5% of the isolates were identified as F. sambucinum, followed F. oxysporum (57.5%), then F. verticillioides (56.25%) and F. incarnatum (47.5%). All the tested Fusarium species were able to produce amylase. The pathogenicity of the isolates was tested by inoculation of healthy potato tubers; all of the tested isolates were pathogenic to healthy potato tubers. F. sambucinum had a highly virulent effect.
Keywords: Potato (Solanum tuberosum L.), Fusarium spp., pathogenicity, amylase.