Identification of Fusarium species Associated with Bakanae Disease of Basmati Rice by using Molecular Marker

Author: Vikram Singh*, Ashwani Kumar, Promil Kapoor and Mahaveer Singh Bochalya

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Abstract

Bakanae caused by Fusarium fujikuroi (Nirenberg), is emerging as a serious threat for rice (Oryza sativa L.) cultivation in India. It is supposed to be caused by Fusarium fujikuroi but other Fusarium species such as Fusarium verticilloides or Fusarium proliferatum, have also been linked to the development of this disease. Correct diagnosis and identification of the pathogen is the key to the successful management of plant disease. Identification that relies solely on cultural and morphological characteristics is unreliable for Fusarium isolates so this investigation was conducted to assess the efficiency of PCR analysis of Tef -1 alpha gene for identification purpose. From rice samples with bakanae infections, twenty six different Fusarium spp. strains were identified. Samples were collected from different districts of Haryana viz., Hisar, Jind, Fatehabad, Bhiwani, Sirsa, Panipat, Sonipat, Karnal, Yamunanagar, Kaithal and Kurukshetra, from different basmati rice varieties namely PB 1121, PB 1401, PB 1509, PB 1718 and Basmati 521. Tef-1 α genes of all isolates were successfully amplified using primers (EF 1 and EF 2) as forward and reverse, respectively. A PCR product of approximately 700 base pairs was observed for 22 Fusarium isolates, four isolates did not showed any amplification. Hence, it is recommended that Tef-1 alpha gene be analyzed to solve the limits of cultural and morphological methods in order to identify the Fusarium species linked to the bakanae disease of basmati rice.

Keywords

Rice, Fusarium spp, PCR, Tef- 1 α, identification

Conclusion

Fusarium isolates are difficult to identify and separate using traditional methods, such as morphological techniques. Therefore, to overcome the drawbacks of conventional procedures, fast molecular techniques like PCR have been developed. Fusarium species have been more easily identified using differences in gene nucleotide sequences (Bashyal et al., 2015). In current study the Tef-1α genes of 22 isolates were successfully amplified, a PCR product of approximately 700 base pairs was observed, remaining four isolates showed no amplification. Hence, to avoid the shortcomings of cultural and morphological methods in the identification of Fusarium species linked to the bakanae disease of basmati rice, it is therefore advised that the Tef-1 gene must be assessed.

References

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How to cite this article

Vikram Singh, Ashwani Kumar, Promil Kapoor and Mahaveer Singh Bochalya (2022). Identification of Fusarium species Associated with Bakanae Disease of Basmati Rice by using Molecular Marker. Biological Forum – An International Journal, 14(4): 193-197.