Isolation and Molecular Identification of Epicoccum nigrum and Cladosporium cladosporioides from Exotic Vegetables in Aberdeen

International Journal of Research and Scientific Innovation (IJRSI) | Volume VI, Issue VI, June 2019 | ISSN 2321–2705

Isolation and Molecular Identification of Epicoccum nigrum and Cladosporium cladosporioides from Exotic Vegetables in Aberdeen

Aigbe, S. O^*,#

^*Department of Crop Science, Ambrose Alli University, Ekpoma, Nigeria
^#School of Biological Sciences, University of Aberdeen, Cruickshank Building, St. Machar Drive, Aberdeen, UK

Abstract- In an experiment involving the isolation and molecular identification of fungi associated with exotic vegetables in two Aberdeen shops, Epicoccum nigrum, and Cladosporium cladosporioides were isolated and identified from snowpea (Pisum sativum var. saccharatum), mango (Mangifera indica) and pawpaw (Carica papaya) imported from Kenya and Brazil. Isolates were identified using colony and morphological characters on Potato Dextrose Agar and PCR analysis. The DNA of fungi were extracted using a QiagenDNeasy Plant Mini Kit and PCR products were purified with a QIAquick PCR Purification Kit after electrophoresis. PCR amplifications were run using the primer pair ITS1/ITS4. DNA sequences were compared to published sequences in GenBank using BLASTn. Epicoccum nigrum, and Cladosporium cladosporioides have both been reported as pathogens of economically important crops plants. They have also both been reported as biological contro agents of some pathogens of certain crops. The pathogenicity and the biological control potentials of this isolates are currently being planned.

Keywords– Epicoccum nigrum, Cladosporium cladosporioides, vegetables, Aberdeen, PCR

Introduction

Epicoccum nigrum is a species of fungus, in the phylum Ascomycota. A plant pathogen and endophyte, it is a widespread fungus which produces coloured pigments that can be used as antifungal agents against other pathogenic fungi (Anderson et al., 1981). Cladosporium is one of the most common genera of fungi occurring on various substrates and includes species with diverse lifestyles. Besides saprophytic behavior, antagonism to pathogenic fungal species has been described for the genus ( Singh and Singh, 1994).

In an experiment in Poland, to identify the pathogens present in the pea seeds of different cultivars,  Epicoccum nigrum was one of the fungus isolated along with other fungal pathogens such as Alternaria and Fusarium species Wilman et al. (2014).

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