First detection, isolation and molecular characterization of banana leaf spot diseases caused by Nigrospora sphaerica and Neocordana musae in Bangladesh

Abstract

AbstractPreliminary survey revealed that 30–40% of Cavendish banana plants were affected with leaf spot disease. Diseased leaf samples were sterilized with 3% sodium hypochlorite solution for 2 min and cultured on PDA media at 25 °C for 15 days followed by microscopic examination. Combined morphological, cultural and microscopic examinations identified two causal agents designated here as BaFI-1 and BaFI-2. Further, BLASTn search using internal transcribed spacer (ITS) rDNA sequences of the isolates also revealed that BaIF-1 and BaFI-2 had 97.13% and 100% homology with Nigrospora sphaerica and Neocordana musae, respectively; which were already reported from Indian and Spanish region. Pathogenecity tests were conducted using 2 months old banana seedlings inoculated with isolated spores in the polyhouse, which addressed Koch’s postulates. To our knowledge, this is the first report confirming Nigrospora sphaerica and Neocordana musae to be the causal agents of leaf spot disease of Cavendish banana in Bangladesh.Keywords: BananaMusa sppITS sequencesFungiLeaf spot disease Ethical approvalThis research work was carried out solely on plants. There is no ethical issue.Disclosure statementNo potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.Data availability statementThe data that support the findings of this study are available in NCBI GenBank in the following URLs: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/nuccore/MN966684; https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/nuccore/MT241255Additional informationFundingThis work was supported by Faculty of Science, University of Rajshahi.