Identification of Curvularia spicifera causing foliage blight on Foeniculum vulgare

Abstract

Curvularia is an important genus that contains plant pathogenic species that are found all over the world and have a broad host range. Fennel (Foeniculum vulgare) is a cultivated plant and has been commonly used as a traditional food and medicine. During August 2021, severe foliage blight symptoms were observed on fennel grown in Isparta province, Türkiye. The causal organism of this foliage blight was isolated from diseased tissues and identified as Curvularia spicifera, based on characteristics of morphology. The fungal isolate's morphological identification was confirmed through phylogenetic analysis of the internal transcribed spacer region (ITS) of the rDNA gene sequence. Pathogenicity to fennel was confirmed through inoculations of healthy plants. To our knowledge, this is the first report of C. spicifera causing foliage blight on fennel in Türkiye and worldwide.

Keywords

• Curvularia spicifera
• fennel
• foliage blight
• ITS-rDNA
• pathogenicity