Use of Polymerase Chain Reaction for Identification of the Pathogen and Management of Potato Soft Rot with Zinc Application

Ayesha Bibi¹, Muhammad Junaid¹, Musharaf Ahmad¹, Amjad Ali^2*, Fazli Wahid³, Rubina Naz⁴, Arif Ullah⁵, Amanullah Mahar², Shahmir Ali Kalhoro⁶

¹Department of Plant Pathology, The University of Agriculture (AUP), Peshawar, Pakistan.
²College of Natural Resources and Environment, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, China.
³Department of Soil and Environmental Sciences (AUP), Peshawar, Pakistan.
⁴Department of Botany, Kohat University of Science & Technology, Kohat, Pakistan.
⁵College of Economics and Management, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, China.
⁶Faculty of Agriculture, Lasbela University of Agriculture, Water & Marine Sciences, Lasbela, Pakistan.

DOI: 10.4236/ajps.2015.68118                

Abstract

Effect of different Zinc doses was investigated against Erwinia carotovora ssp. atroseptica, the potato blackleg/soft rot causing organism, during 2009 and 2010 in Department of Plant Pathology and Institute of Biotechnology and Genetic Engineering, The University of Agriculture, Peshawar-Pakistan. Out of 200 tested samples, 21 of them were proved to be Eca. However, these tentative Eca isolates showed some characteristics which were unexpected for Eca. We, therefore, decided to perform Polymerase Chain Reaction using Eca-specific primers, Eca1F and Eca2R for confirm identification. For disease management, at the time of sowing, pots containing 5 kg sterilized soil were applied with Zinc in four different treatments i.e. 8 mg, 10 mg, 12 mg and 14 mg along with one control. Results indicated that 12 mg (4.8 kg Zn ha^-1) were better doses in controlling the disease up to 73% and increasing the yield up to 117% as compared to control plants.

Keywords

Erwinia carotovora, Potato, PCR Identification, Soft Rot, Zinc

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

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