Molecular identification of <i>Fusarium</i> spp. from wilt-infected tomato and brinjal plants in selected regions of Sri Lanka and endophytic bacteria as a potential option for disease management

Abstract

Fusarium wilt caused by Fusarium spp. is an economically important fungal disease of tomato and brinjal production areas in Sri Lanka. The study was carried out to identify Fusarium isolates infecting tomato and brinjal, and endophytic antagonists bacteria against Fusarium wilt pathogen. The infected tomato and brinjal samples were collected from farmers’ fields in Matale, Kandy, Nuwara Eliya and Badulla districts and PCR was conducted using primers specific for species, races and formae speciales. Eight, nine and five isolates were identified as Fusarium solani, Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. lycopersici race 1 and Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. radicis-lycopersici, respectively from the wilt-infected tomato and brinjal collected from the four districts. Thirty endophytic bacterial isolates were isolated from healthy tomato and brinjal stems were antagonistic against Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. lycopersici and Fusarium solani. Molecular identification revealed that Pseudomonas geniculata strain ICPH-14, Pseudomonas sp. strain SB 904 (E7), Delftia tsuruhatensis strain MTQ 1, Stenotropomonas maltophilia strain ATCC 13637, Stenotropomonas pavanii strain ICB 89, and Bacillus velezensis strain C19 were among the potential endophytic antagonists.

Keywords

• antagonism, endophytes, formae speciales, fusarium, 16s rrna