Morphological and molecular characterization of Pythium species from Punjab, Pakistan

The genus Pythium belongs to the soilborne Oomycetes. This research was conducted to characterize Pythium species from Punjab, Pakistan's agricultural lands. Total of eleven Pythium (P. debaryanum, P. aphanidermatum, P. spinosum, P. irregulare, P. myriotylum, P. acanthicum, P. vexans, P. graminicola, P. dissotocum, P. echinulatum, and P. insidiosum) were isolated from the samples. Biometrics revealed the maximum values for aplerotic index were 59.8% for P. acanthicum and P. dissotocum while maximum values for ooplast index (39.6%) were calculated in the case of P. myriotylum and P. vexans. Molecular characterization, amplification of the ITS region revealed a genome size of approximately 570 bp. NCBI accession numbers for each species were acquired, and each species has shown 98-99% similarity with their reference sequences in the gene bank database. The research is a much-needed step to identify these pathogenic fungi morphologically and molecularly to understand its epidemiology and develop some potential management strategies.