MOLECULAR DIAGNOSIS OF NEW Aspergillus niger ISOLATES CAUSING DEGRADATION OF POMEGRANATE (Punica granatum) TREES IN IRAQ
SAHAR K. NEAMAH
Department of Plant Protection, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Kufa, Iraq.
SABAH L. ALWAN *
Department of Plant Protection, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Kufa, Iraq.
AQEEL N. AL-ABEDY
Department of Plant Protection, College of Agriculture, University of Kerbala, Iraq.
*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Abstract
This study was conducted to diagnose seven fungal isolates collected from the stems, branches, leaves, and fruits of some pomegranate trees (Punica granatum) showing symptoms of the degradation and stiffness of branches. These isolates were molecularly identified by the ITS sequence via polymerase chain reaction technique (PCR). Nucleotide sequences generated from the PCR products amplified from the Aspergillus niger isolates were compared with the A. niger isolates available in NCBI (National Center for Biotechnology Information). Results demonstrated that the A. niger isolates 1, 3, 4, 5, and 7 were genetically dissimilar from the other A. niger isolates formerly recorded in NCBI; consequently these isolates have deposited in NCBI under the accession numbers: MW292566, MW293737, MW293737, MW293737, and MW295647.
Keywords: Pomegranate, Aspergillus niger, PCR amplification, gene sequence.