Abstract
Eight isolates of Botrytis cinerea, causal organism of chickpea from eight different locations of western and eastern Indo-Gangetic Plains (IGP) of India were analyzed for morphological, cultural, virulence and genetic variations. Characterization of virulence and genetic variations of the isolates was based on their pathogenicity against 40 selected chickpea genotypes and randomly amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) analysis, respectively. The isolates differed in their optimum growth, temperature, conidial formation and size of conidia on potato dextrose agar. Based on cluster analysis, the eight test isolates were separated into three pathotypes with two isolates from western and four from eastern IGP grouped together with >80% similarity. Based on cluster analysis of the RAPD banding patterns, genetic similarity of the isolates varied from 14-44%, and the isolates were separated into three groups. However, pathotypes variation detected among B. cinerea isolates could not be differentiated based on the RAPD markers examined. Key words: Botryotinia fuckeliana, Botrytis gray mold, variability.
Highlights
Characterization of virulence and genetic variations of the isolates was based on their pathogenicity against 40 selected chickpea genotypes and randomly amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) analysis, respectively
The eight test B. cinerea isolates varied in their radial growth on potato dextrose agar (PDA)
The highly variable nature of B. cinerea and resulting changes in its aggressiveness pose a further threat to the deployment of available resistant sources and the breeding programs targeted at pyramiding of Botrytis gray mold (BGM) resistance (Pande et al, 2006)
Summary
The fungus causes Botrytis gray mold (BGM) disease in chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) and can devastate the crop resulting in complete yield loss (Pande et al, 2005). Variation in virulence of B. cinerea populations against one given host plant has been frequently reported (Buck and Jeffers, 2004; Derckel et al, 1999). Multinucleate and heterokaryotic nature of B. cinerea, and presence of transposable elements (Ma and Michailides, 2005) contribute to high levels of variation in the fungus populations, and often the clonal lineages are dissimilar (Beever and Weeds, 2004). Sexual reproduction between the two mating types of B. cinerea, MAT-1 and MAT-2, is a minor cause of genetic diversity as the sexual structures of the fungus are rarely observed in the field (Beever and Weeds, 2004)
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