Nurholis1, Sri Hendrastuti Hidayat1, Kikin Hamzah Mutaqin1, Slamet Widodo2 and Widodo1
1 IPB University, Faculty of Agriculture, Department of Plant Protection, Jl. Kamper Babakan Dramaga, Kab. Bogor 16680 Jawa Barat, Indonesia
2 IPB University, Department of Mechanical and Biosystem Engineering, Faculty of Agricultural Engineering and Technology, Jl. Lingkar Akademik, Babakan, Kec. Dramaga, Kabupaten Bogor, Jawa Barat 16680
Nurholis, Hidayat, S. H., Mutaqin, K. H., Widodo, S. & Widodo (2024). Identification and pathogenicity of Fusarium species causing dry rot disease associated with imported citrus fruits. Bulg. J. Agric. Sci., 30(4), 586–598
Dry rot disease is one of the main postharvest diseases caused by Fusarium species. Several pathogenic Fusarium species have the potential to be carried on imported citrus fruits. This study aims to detect, isolate, identify, and test the pathogenicity of Fusarium species from imported citrus fruits. Fusarium species were isolated using the Overnight Freezing Incubation technique (ONFIT) method by freezing citrus fruits at – 20°C for 15 hours. Fusarium species were identified morphologically and molecularly. Morphological identification was conducted macroscopically and microscopically by observing the characteristics of the colony on PDA media and conidia. Molecular identification was carried out by the Polymerase Chain reaction (PCR) method using universal primers of ITS1 and ITS4. Pathogenicity was tested by injecting 100 μl of fungal conidia suspension with a density of 105 conidia/ml into healthy citrus fruits. The results showed that 3 Fusarium species were successfully isolated and identified as Fusarium equiseti, Fusarium lateritium, and Fusarium oxysporum. The pathogenicity test proved that all Fusarium species were pathogenic to citrus fruits. The disease incidence of all Fusarium species was 100%. The disease severity caused by F. equiseti, F. lateritium and F. oxysporum were 73.33, 93.33 and 84.44%, respectively. These results are a new report of 3 Fusarium species causing dry rot disease in citrus fruits.