First Report of Corynespora cassiicola Causing Fruit Rot of Pomegranate in India, Its Morphological and Molecular Characterization

• Published in: National Academy science letters 2019-06, Vol.42 (3), p.253-257
• Main Authors: Gajbhiye, Milind, Kapadnis, Balu
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Biodegradation; Biological control; Cell culture; Cell walls; Cellulase; Corynespora cassiicola; Culture techniques; Enzymatic activity; Enzyme activity; Enzyme inhibitors; Enzymes; Fruit rot; Fruits; Gene sequencing; History of Science; Humanities and Social Sciences; Inoculation; Morphology; multidisciplinary; Necrosis; Orchards; Pathogenesis; Pathogens; Pectinase; Physical characteristics; Pomegranates; rRNA; Science; Science (multidisciplinary); Short Communication; Slide culture; Tissues; Xylanase
• ISSN: 0250-541X; 2250-1754
• DOI: 10.1007/s40009-018-0722-2

A new fungal pathogen, Corynespora cassiicola was isolated from infected pomegranates from orchards of Maharashtra. It causes a mild form of rot in pomegranates. The pathogen was isolated from only 5.12% of infected pomegranates of Bhagwa and Ganesh varieties. It produced approximately 12 mm rot on artificially infected pomegranates and necrosis was 8 mm deep after 10 days post inoculation. The pathogen was identified by cultural and morphological characteristics that include growth on different media and slide culture technique. Further authentication was done by the sequencing of ITS1, 5.8S and ITS2 region of rRNA gene. The accession number of sequence submitted to NCBI is KC411916. The pathogen produced plant cell wall degrading enzymes viz., pectinase, cellulase and xylanase. In artificially infected tissues, pectinase activity was maximum (19.8 U/g) followed by xylanase (15.58 U/g) and cellulase (1.09 U/g). Pearson correlation indicated a significant correlation ( P