THE MORFOLOGICAL AND MOLECULAR IDENTIFICATION OF Fusarium verticillioides CAUSING FUSARIOSIS ON WHEAT GRAIN

During the 2014-2017 period, wheat samples were collected from discoloured spikes affected by Fusarium head blight (FHB) from 20 locations in Serbia. After isolation, fungi were cultivated on potato dextrose agar (PDA) at 25 degrees C for 7 days. Based on the in situ identification on PDA, 36 isolates of the section Liseola were selected for further analyses. The pathogenicity of all isolates was confirmed on wheat leaves. The virulence of isolates was determined by measuring the lengths of spots formed at the inoculation leaf site. In order to prove the presence of the species Fusarium verticillioides, a pair of primers FV-F2/FV-R was used. This pair of primers amplifies the sequence of the gaoB gene, and it proved to be specific for the stated species. Moreover, for the same purpose, a pair of primers VER1-VER2 based on the calmodulin partial gene was used. The reference isolate RBG 1603 Q27 was used as a positive control. The pair of primers VER1-VER2 produced a band of the expected size 578 bp in 18 isolates, while using FV-F2/FV-R, a 370bp long band confirmed the presence of F. verticillioides in 16 samples. Sixteen out of 18 isolates verified with VER1-VER2 were also identified as F. verticillioides with FV-FS/FV-R. No amplification was observed in a negative control.