Molecular Variability of Colletotrichum spp. Associated with Anthracnose of Soybean

Abstract

Background: Anthracnose is a major foliar disease of soybean associated with Colletotrichum species. In India, C. truncatum is the most widely associated species, whereas, other species are also being reported to cause anthracnose disease in soybean. Methods: Twenty-eight soybean infected samples were collected from different location of India, in order to obtain the pure cultures and were subjected to pathogenicity test. Microscopic observations were made for morphological characterization of all the isolates. Molecular detection was carried out using ITS primers and the sequences were deposited in the NCBI GenBank. Phylogenetic analysis was made using the MegaX bioinformatics tool. Result: The pure cultures were subjected to pathogenicity test, which had reproduced similar symptoms found under field conditions. Microscopic observations on spore morphology were made which revealed that truncate conidia were associated in twenty-seven isolates and cylindrical conidia in one isolate. Molecular detection made showed sequence similarity to Colletotrichum truncatum and the isolate with cylindrical spore was sharing homology with C. plurivorum. Phylogeny analysis clustered the two species into two groups. Hence, the study shows the association of two distinct species in causing anthracnose of soybean.