Abstract
Date palm is one of the important income sources for many farmers in different parts of several countries, including Iraq, Iran, Saudi Arabia, North Africa etc. Inflorescence rot is a serious disease of date palm which limits its yield. The identification of the causal organism is a key step to tackling this disease, and such studies are very scanty. The objective of this present study was to identify the causal agent of inflorescence rot disease occurring on date palms prevailing in Southern Iraq. The diseased date palm trees were observed in Shaat-Al-Arab and Al-Deer regions near Basrah in Iraq. The isolates were identified using morphological and molecular parameters. The internal transcribed spacer (ITS)/5.8S regions were amplified by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and sequenced. The PCR method and phylogenetic relationship successfully identified that the causal organism of date palm inflorescence rot disease in southern part of Iraq is Fusarium proliferatum. Pathogenecity test confirmed the disease-causing ability of the fungus, and sequence comparison for similarity of ITS region. Identification of this new causal agent of inflorescence rot may help the plant pathologists to control this disease. Key words: Fusarium proliferatum, ITS1, ITS4, pathogenecity, PCR, isolates, phylogeny.
Highlights
Date palm (Phoenix dactylifera L.) is one of the important income sources for many farmers in different parts of Iraq, Iran and North Africa
The internal transcribed spacer (ITS)/5.8S regions were amplified by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and sequenced
Our results show that the presence of inflorescence rot disease in date palms from Shaat-Al-Arab and Al-Deer areas in southern part of Iraq, several isolates collected in the present studies represented the new pathogen
Summary
Date palm (Phoenix dactylifera L.) is one of the important income sources for many farmers in different parts of Iraq, Iran and North Africa. During the hot and humid season, this disease causes a crucial loss especially in heavy rains (up to two months) before emergence of the spathes. In favourable conditions, this disease can cause the infection on the same date palm tree repeatedly every year (Abdullah et al, 2005). This disease can cause the infection on the same date palm tree repeatedly every year (Abdullah et al, 2005) This disease has been reported in Iraq by Hanford (1949) as severe outbreaks in 1948 to 1949 and 1977 to 1987, affecting male and female palms and caused 80% loss of the annual harvest (Al-Hassan and Waleed, 1977), and in United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Bahrain by Djerbi (1982). The infections of the young inflorescence occur early when the spathe is still hidden in the leaf bases
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