© Benaki Phytopathological Institute
Hellenic Plant Protection Journal
12:
1-5, 2019
DOI 10.2478/hppj-2019-0001
Plant Protection Department, Agriculture College, Uni-
versity of Kerbala, Kerbala, Iraq.
E-mail:
SHORT COMMUNICATION
First report of
Fusarium proliferatum
causing stem and
root rot on lucky bamboo (
Dracaena braunii
) in Iraq
A.A. Lahuf
Summary
Lucky bamboo (
Dracaena braunii
) is a popular ornamental plant in Iraq. Individuals of this
plant showing stem and root rot symptoms were observed during a survey conducted from Novem-
ber 2015 to February 2016 in several nurseries in Kerbala province, Iraq. Based on morphological char-
acteristics and sequence analyses of the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region of the ribosomal DNA
(rDNA), the pathogen was identified as
Fusarium proliferatum
. This is the first report of stem and root
rot caused by
F. proliferatum
on lucky bamboo (
D. braunii
) in Iraq.
Additional keywords:
molecular identification, morphological characterization, pathogenicity
to isolate and identify the pathogen and as-
sess its pathogenicity.
The symptomatic tissues of roots and
stems were surface disinfected in 1% so-
dium hypochlorite for 2 min, rinsed three
times with sterilized distilled water and
dried with sterilized filter paper. Then the
tissues were aseptically cut (0.5-1 cm long),
placed onto 2% water agar (WA) medium
and incubated in the dark at 25 ± 1°C for
3 days. Subsequently, a hyphal tip of each
emerging fungal colony was sub-cultured
on potato dextrose agar (PDA) medium sup-
plemented with streptomycin sulphate (200
mg/l) and incubated in the dark at 25 ± 1°C
for 7 days (Watanabe, 2010). Fungal colonies
grew rapidly producing white aerial myce-
lia, occasionally with a violet pigmentation
(Fig. 1E). The reverse colony color was pink
to dark violet (Fig. 1F). Macroconidia were
colourless and slightly curved with 3-5 septa
and average size 33.4 × 3.2 μm. Microconid-
ia were more than macroconidia, colourless,
non-curved, occasionally in chains, with 0-1
septa and average size 8.2 × 3.1 μm. No chla-
mydospores were observed (Fig. 1G). These
morphological features agree with the de-
scription of Leslie and Summerell (2006), ex-
cept for the septation of the microconidia
(0-septate according to Leslie and Summer-
ell, 2006). However, the number of septa
found in the present study are in line with
Lucky bamboo [
Dracaena braunii
(=
D.
san-
deriana
)] is an evergreen perennial orna-
mental plant of the Asparagaceae
family,
native to Cameroon in West Africa (Macedo
and Barreto, 2016). Recently, it has become a
popular ornamental houseplant in Iraq be-
cause of its beautiful appearance, low cost,
its ability to grow under diverse indoor con-
ditions and no experience required to take
care of it.
During a survey conducted between
November 2015 and February 2016 in orna-
mental nurseries in Kerbala province, Iraq,
D. braunii
plants showing stem and root rot
symptoms were observed (Fig. 1A-D). Symp-
toms initially appeared on roots as water-
soaked, red-brown lesions, becoming dark
brown with time (Fig. 1B, D). Eventually, af-
fected roots became completely rotten. On
the lower part of the stem, a yellow discolor-
ation was observed, tissues were soft and as
the rot progressed, the diseased plants died
Fig. 1A, C). The disease resulted in a signifi-
cant loss of
D. braunii
plants in most of the
nurseries examined. However, the pathogen
causing this disease has not been previous-
ly investigated in Iraq. Thus, this study aims
