Identification of species of the genus monilinia by PCR-analysis

Abstract

Monilia fruit rot is one of the most common diseases of various fruit and subtropical crops on the Black Sea coast of the Caucasus. Moniliosis of fruit crops is caused by three fungi species of the genus Monilinia — Monilinia fructigena (Pers.) Honey, M. laxa (Aderh. & Ruhland) Honey and M. fructicola (G. Winter) Honey. According to the literature data, among the species of the genus Monilinia, the most common and harmful phytopathogenic species on the Black Sea coast of the Caucasus is M. fructigena. About the presence of the species M. fructicola in the Krasnodar Territory, in particular, and in Russia as a whole, there was no information before the present studies. This pathogen is included both in the EPPO Alert List and in the Unified List of Quarantine Objects of the Eurasian Economic Union. Traditionally, the identification of species of the genus Monilinia occurs by visual method according to cultural-and-morphological characteristics. However, this method does not provide accurate data on the Monilinia species presented in the region. The subject of the experiment was samples of pome fruits and stone fruits (fruits, shoots, buds) with obvious symptoms of moniliosis. Samples were collected at different points in the humid subtropics of the Krasnodar Territory (Russia) and the Republic of Abkhazia. Species identification was carried out using speciesspecific markers. In the process of PCR-analysis for the species-specificity of fungi of the genus Monilinia, a quarantine species M. fructicola was revealed, which was not observed earlier in the territory of the European Economic Union and in the Republic of Abkhazia. M. fructicola was found on peach collected in Sochi and in Abkhazia (Gulripshsky district). To confirm the correctness of the species determination of the discovered fungi of the genus Monilinia, sequencing was performed. The molecular diagnostic method has proved to be promising for the accurate identification of fungi of the genus Monilinia, the causative agent of fruit rot of fruit and subtropical crops.