Pathogenic and molecular detection of &lt;i&gt;Fusarium oxysporum&lt;/i&gt; f. sp. &lt;i&gt;albedinis&lt;/i&gt; isolates from different areas in southwest Algeria

Larbi Benlarbi,Miloud Bellahcene,Bertrand Cornu,Lakhdar Mebarki,Abdellah Moussaoui,Corinne Vander Wauven

doi:10.4314/tjpr.v17i8.23

Abstract

Purpose: To investigate the intra-specific variations in eleven Fusarium oxysporum isolates from infected date palm using pathogenicity and molecular methods.Methods: Eleven isolates of Fusarium oxysporum obtained from infected date palms in the south-west region of Algeria were subjected to confirmatory test using a specific polymerase chain reaction (PCR) technique with the primer pairs, TL3-FOA28 and BIO3-FOA1. Polymorphism in the 5’ domain of the large subunit rRNA was investigated. Small libraries of the domain, amplified by the primer pair, LR3/LROR, were constructed and the inserts sequenced.Results: The 11 isolates of Fusarium oxysporum collected from the infected date palm were confirmed as Fusarium oxysporun f. sp albedinis. Results from the investigation of polymorphism in the 5’ domain of the large subunit rRNA revealed that the sequences were 100 % homologous or extremely close (> 99.4 %, differing by no more than one to three nucleotides) to several Fusarium oxysporum sequences. In addition, F. inflexum (U34548.1) was highly homologous to one of the F. oxysporum f. sp. albedinis.Conclusion: The sequences of the 11 isolates are almost 100 % homologous to several F. oxysporum species. It is noteworthy that a sequence highly homologous to one of the F. oxysporum f. sp. albedinis is obtainable from a different species, F. inflexum (U34548.1).Keywords: Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. albedinis, Date palm, rRNA gene polymorphism

Highlights

The date palm, Phoenix dactylifera L. plays an essential ecological role on oasis development, and in life in the desert [1]
The results obtained showed that F. oxysporum f. sp. albedinis was identified among the F. oxysporum isolates obtained from date palms, symptomless carriers and soil after inoculating the roots of young date plants at the two-leaf stage
Inoculation F. oxysporum f. sp. albedinis caused the death of the plants after 1 - 2 months

Summary

Introduction

The date palm, Phoenix dactylifera L. plays an essential ecological role on oasis development, and in life in the desert [1]. It has appreciable socio-economic importance because dates occupy a prominent place in human and animal food, and are good sources of foreign exchange earnings. Since the discovery of date palm vascular wilt disease, various control strategies such as chemical fumigation of the soil and resistant cultivars have been developed and attempted. Fusarium species possess high levels of phenotypic and genotypic diversity [6]. Successful control of Bayoud disease depends largely on a good knowledge of the species, including levels and nature of genetic variations. The use of polymerase chain reaction as molecular marker for species identification, and as a diagnostic tool has become very popular during the last decade [7]

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