Document Type : Research Paper
Authors
1 Assistant professor, Seed and Plant Certification and Registration Research Institute, Agricultural Research, Education and Extension Organization (AREEO), Karaj, Iran.
2 MSc., Seed and Plant Certification and Registration Research Institute, Agricultural Research, Education and Extension Organization (AREEO), Karaj, Iran.
Abstract
Fusarium rot disease is one of the most important fungal diseases of saffron corms worldwide, which can lead to a decrease in product yield and the quality of daughter corms produced. The objective of this study was to isolate and identify agents responsible for Fusarium corm rot in saffron, as well as to assess their pathogenicity. In order to determine the Fusarium species from saffron corms with rotting symptoms were sampled from the different fields in provinces of Hamadan, Golestan, Kerman, Kurdistan, Semnan, Kermanshah, Ardabil, East Azerbaijan, North Khorasan, Razavi Khorasan, Isfahan, and South Khorasan. After isolation and purification, fungal isolates were identified and confirmed based on morphological characteristics and species-specific primers. Also, the pathogenicity of the isolates was artificially tested in the greenhouse on saffron corms according to Koch’s principles. The results indicated that approximately 38.6% of the saffron corms were infected with fusarium rot disease in the 1 to 5% range. 33 isolates were identified based on morphological and molecular characteristics belonging to F. oxysporum (26 isolates, 78.8%) and F. solani sensu lato (7 isolates, 21.2%). The pathogenicity tests revealed that all Fusarium isolates were pathogenic, displaying varying levels of disease index.The result of the host range test of F. oxysporum on different plants revealed that all isolates caused wilting and yellowing of aerial organs, necrosis and rotting of underground organs on Gladiolus (Gladiolus communis L.), Irises (Iris germanica L.) and Crocus (Crocus vernus L.) and was called as F. oxysporum f. sp. gladioli. This is the first report on identification of F. oxysporum f. sp. gladioli from saffron fields in Malayer, Bijar, Kangavar, Parsabad, Marand, Natanz, Najafabad and f F. solani sensu lato from saffron fields in Azadshahr, Shirvan, Esfarayen, Kashmar, Najafabad, Boshruyeh on saffron corms. The findings of this research provide new insights into the health status of saffron corm against fusarium rot disease, which can be used for the revision of the national standard for saffron corms and determining suitable areas for certified corm production of saffron.
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