Morphological and molecular identification of Fusarium spp. associated with crown and root rot of Cham-5 durum wheat in Syrian costal area.

Crown and root rot of wheat is considered as one of the most damaging diseases, resulting in significant yield losses in different regions worldwide. The aim of this study was to isolate and identify Fusarium species associated with crown rot of wheat in Syrian coastal areas. Ten Fusarium isolates were recovered from crowns and roots of durum wheat plants (var. Cham5), showing typical symptoms, collected from five different sites in coastal Tartous province. Based on morphological characteristics, 7 isolates were identified as F. incarnatum (syn. F. semitectum), and 3 isolates were F. solani. The sequencing of a partial TEF1-α gene of two representative isolates of these two species confirmed the morphological identification. Phylogenetic tree of partial TEF1-α gene showed a clear separation between the two species and high genetic similarity of Syrian and reference isolates. Up to our knowledge, this is the first report of F. incarnatum and F. solani infecting the roots and crowns of wheat in Syria. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]