MORPHOLOGICAL AND MOLECULAR IDENTIFICATION OF ALTERNARIA ALTERNATA CONCOMITANT WITH LEAF NECROSIS OF SPINACIA OLERACEAE L. IN PAKISTAN

Abstract

Spinach (Spinacia oleraceae L.) is an edible yearly grown crop, having worldwide high nutritious value. Numerous studies have revealed that fungal diseases are the major reason for the yield loss in spinach. A study was carried out in fields of Lahore, Depalpur, Okara from August and September 2018 and fungal leaf spot infection was detected in spinach plants. Diseased specimens were collected for isolation and characterization of the causal agent. The identification was processed by morphological depiction and inherently from nucleotide sequencing of amplified ITS1-5.8S-ITS4 region, partial Glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH), and partial elongation factor (EF1/EF2) coding section of rDNA. Alternaria alternata was recognized as a leaf spot triggering causal agent of the spinach plant. Subsequently, the pathogenicity tendency of the known pathogen was confirmed by re-extraction of the identical pathogen from preciously injected leaves of spinach. This learning implies the first report of A. alternata as a pathogen of S. oleraceae and obliges the speedy expansion of management tools.