title: Morphological and Molecular Characterization of Pomegranate Fruit Rot Pathogen, Chaetomella raphigera, and its Virulence Factors.
abstract: A new fungal pathogen was isolated from rotten pomegranates collected from the orchards of different parts of Maharashtra. The pathogen was morphologically identified as Chaetomella raphigera followed by sequencing of ITS and D1/D2 hypervariable region of LSU (28S) of rRNA gene. The pathogen produced pectinase, cellulase, xylanase and protease in liquid medium at a concentration of 71, 13.8, 54.3 and 7 U/ml respectively. Enzyme activity was also determined during pathogenesis in the tissues artificially infected by C. raphigera. Xylanase activity was maximum (25.1 U/g) followed by pectinase (19.2 U/g) and cellulase (1.5 U/g), whereas, protease activity was unnoticed. There was significant correlation (P < 0.05) between disease rating scale and pectinase, xylanase and cellulase activity in infected tissues. This indicates the simultaneous production of hydrolytic enzymes that aids in necrosis of fruit tissues. The elevated levels of these enzymes in infected tissues as compared with control suggest their possible role in pathogenesis. Thus, pectinase, cellulase and xylanase produced by C. raphigera acts as major virulence factors in the development of fruit rot in pomegranates. This is a first report of fungal fruit rot caused by C. raphigera in pomegranate.
authors: Department of Microbiology, Savitribai Phule Pune University, Pune, 411007 India.
authors: Milind
authors: M
authors: Gajbhiye
authors: Department of Microbiology, Tuljaram Chaturchand College, Baramati, Dist-Pune, Maharashtra 413102 India.
authors: Shivaji
authors: S
authors: Sathe
authors: Department of Microbiology, Savitribai Phule Pune University, Pune, 411007 India.
authors: Vikas
authors: V
authors: Shinde
authors: Department of Microbiology, Savitribai Phule Pune University, Pune, 411007 India.
authors: Balu
authors: B
authors: Kapadnis
keywords: Chaetomella raphigera; Fruit rot; ITS sequencing; Pomegranate; Virulence factor