Monitoring of penicillium infection during eggplant ontogenesis

Abstract

Pathogenic fungi attack plants at any phase of development from the seedling stage to the seed maturing stage. The microflora found on seeds can be both pathogenic and saprotrophic. Some saprotrophs, including micromycetes of the storage period, such as Penicillium spp., under certain conditions are able to pass to parasitism, causing mold of the seed. On the other hand, Penicillium spp. is known to play an important role in soil fertilization and stimulation of plant growth. Identification of Penicillium spp. during eggplant ontogenesis «from seed to seed» was done. Several eggplant genotypes of local selection were used in the study. Molecular analysis using nested-PCR and a set of primers designed for species-specific regions of the Penicillium genome: P. chrisogenum, P. expansum, P. citrinum, P. verrucosum, P. griseofulvum, P. brevicompactum was performed. The identification of the pathogens of genus Penicillium in the seeding material, in the leaves collected at different stages of plant development and in seeds isolated at the phase of biological maturity of the fruits was carried out.