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GENETIC VARIABILITY AND AGGRESSIVENESS IN CURVULARIA LUNATA ASSOCIATED WITH RICE-WHEAT CROPPING AREAS OF PAKISTAN

IFTIKHAR AHMAD, SHAZIA IRAM AND JOHN CULLUM*

Abstract: Curvularia lunata isolated from root and soil of both wheat and rice crops were identified and their aggressiveness was studied using aggressiveness analysis. Isolates of Curvularia lunata were genetically characterized using RAPD's. The investigations were based on two surveys of wheat and one survey of rice. In root aggressiveness analysis Curvularia lunata isolates were aggressive for rice than wheat. In foliar aggressiveness test the overall number of aggressive isolates was high on wheat. Random Amplified Polymorphism DNA (RAPD) was used to study the polymorphism and genetic variation within the population of fungi to establish correlation between aggressiveness, taxonomical and genetical characters of fungi. With RAPD analysis four groups were recognized and isolates were placed in different groups according to their banding pattern and aggressiveness behaviour. This study highlighted the correlation between aggressiveness, morphological and genetic variations of Curvularia lunata.
 

Institute of Plant and Environmental Protection (IPEP), National Agriculture Research Centre (NARC), Islamabad, Pakistan.
Department of Molecular Genetics, University of Kaiserslautern, Kaiserslautern, Germany.