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COMPARATIVE GROWTH, MORPHOLOGICAL AND MOLECULAR CHARACTERIZATION OF INDIGENOUS SCLEROTIUM ROLFSII STRAINS ISOLATED FROM DIFFERENT LOCATIONS OF PAKISTAN

DARAKHSHANDA KOKUB¹, F. AZAM^2*, A. HASSAN², M. ANSAR², M. J. ASAD¹  AND A. KHANUM¹

Abstract: Growth rate of 8 fungal strains of Sclerotium rolfsii on potato dextrose agar plates at 28^oC ranged from 0.86-1.35 mm hour^-1. Strains D4, D7 and D8 were found to be comparatively fast growing and produced greatest number of sclerotia than others. All strains produced round shaped sclerotia with average diameter of 0.5-2.0 mm. Mycelial compatibility reaction on PDA plates showed that strains D5 and D7 as well as D3 and D8 were compatible with each other. Random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) analysis also revealed that strains D5 and D7 shared 94 % similarity while strains D3 and D8 were 83% similar.

¹Department of Biochemistry, University of Arid Agriculture, Rawalpindi,

^2*Nuclear Institute for Agriculture and Biology (NIAB), Faisalabad, Presently Director, Nuclear Institute for Food and Agriculture (NIFA), Peshawar

Corresponding author e-mail: dkokub6@gmail.com