Molecular characterization of Fusarium oxysporum by PCR amplification of 18S rRNA gene region

ABSTRACT

The genus Fusarium is one of the most diverse and pathologically important fungi with affinities established to Ascomycotina. Usual identification of Fusarium species based on their micro and macroscopic features and morphological characters alone may lead to incorrect species designation. In order to identify the correct species, we amplified the 18S rRNA gene region by PCR, sequenced and analyzed for sequence similarity among the NCBI data. Fusarium oxysporum, a soil borne plant pathogen was isolated from the Allium cepa. The isolate was cultured in fresh potato dextrose agar (PDA) plates for 7 days. Morphological identification was done by observing under microscope after lacto-phenol cotton blue staining. Genomic DNA isolation was carried on the grown Fusarium oxysporum. Further, PCR amplification of ITS regions was performed using Universal ITS primers. The amplified product of 18S rRNA gene was sequenced and submitted to NCBI database. The soil borne fungal pathogen of onion was identified as Fusarium oxysporum based on its morphological and molecular characteristics