ISOLATION AND CHARACTERIZATION OF Sclerotinia sclerotiorum ISOLATES INFECTING CAULIFLOWER AND PEA

Abstract

ABSTRACT newlineSclerotinia sclerotiorum is responsible for the wide range of diseases among different vegetable crops with a host range of more than 400 plant species. Sclerotinia sclerotiorum continues to be the most destructive plant pathogen from many years having no significant method for its control and management. The growth of fungus is favoured by high humidity and cool weather conditions. Disease caused by S. sclerotiorum causes extensive damage that leads to reductions in crop yields in many states of India including Himachal Pradesh. In the present study, an attempt was made to isolate Sclerotinia spp. infecting cauliflower and pea in Solan and Sirmour districts of Himachal Pradesh. A total of sixteen morphologically distinct Sclerotinia strains were isolated out of which eleven were obtained from cauliflower and five were from pea. Isolated Sclerotinia spp. were identified and characterized by amplifying the internal transcribed region (ITS) using genus specific primers, thus confirmed the identity of fungal isolates as Sclerotinia sclerotiorum. Genetic diversity among sixteen different isolates of Sclerotinia was analyzed using random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD). Clustering based on RAPD fingerprints revealed two groups and eight independent branches at 70% similarity level. Hence, the present investigation confirmed the diversity among different S. sclerotiorum isolates taken from different fields of districts Solan and Sirmour of Himachal Pradesh. newline