Molecular Identification and Management of Rhizoctonia Fragariae the Pathogen of Black Root Rot of Strawberry Plant

Strawberry plants are susceptible to a large number of pests and diseases and this can affect the quality and yield value of the fruit. Black root rot is an important disease of strawberry caused by a complex of fungi including Rhizoctonia. The most recognizable species of Rhizoctonia are R. solani and R. fragariae which are multinucleate and binucleate species, respectively. This work is aimed to isolate, identify and control the strawberry root rot caused by R. fragariae. Infected strawberry samples were collected from Erbil, Slemani, Duhok and Garmiyan Provinces. The identification of isolated fungi was achieved by using traditional methods along with molecular methods using polymerase chain reaction (PCR). In the later method, specific primers were designed and used to identify Rhizoctonia species. Several disease management options, including biological by using two species of Trichoderma, and chemical methods using Pristine fungicide, were also investigated. Sampling of strawberry plants revealed that the disease is prevalent in Kurdistan region and the isolated fungi, R. solani, Rhizoctonia sp., and R. fragariae, were pathogens of the disease causing crown and root rot of strawberry. PCR amplification was confirmed the identification of the species of Rhizoctonia. The results of control methods revealed that the most effective treatments were achieved using the fungicide followed by the use of the combination of T. harzianum and T. viride

Field Efficacy of the Commercial Formulation of the Antagonistic Trichoderma Harzianum on Chickpea Wilt Caused by Fusarium Oxysporum

Fusarium wilt (Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. ciceris (Padwick) Matuo and K. Sato) is one of the major yield limiting factors of chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.). For eco-friendly and sustainable management of the disease, Trichoderma harzianum as commercial product (Biocont-T), used as seed coat and jointly amended in peat moss were evaluated against the pathogen. The study was carried out in the fields of Girdarasha research station (8.8 Km south of Erbil), College of Agriculture, Salahaddin University. A moderate Ascochyta-resistant chickpea cultivar (Flip 6-15) was used. The results showed that seed treatments with T. harzianum and peat moss amendments were significantly reduced the disease incidence and severity. An increase of growth rate, plant height, biological and seed yield was also occurred. Three quantities (500, 1000, 1500 g) of peat moss showed enhancements in terms of disease incidence and severity reduction and increased the growth rate and other plant agronomic parameters as compared to untreated control. Treatment efficiency towards the yield and percentage of disease inhibition (PDI%) between treatments were measured. Using 10 Bcnt, 1000 Ptms-Tri and 1500 Ptms treatments were the most efficient treatments to enhance yield. For PDI %, 1000 Ptms-Tri, 10 Bcnt1500 Ptms and 500Ptms-Tri, were showed high disease inhibition in the field