Status and Characterization of Slow Wilt (Fusarium oxysporum) and Basal Wilt (Sclerotium rolfsii) Pathogens from Different Pepper Ecosystems of Tamil Nadu, India

Black pepper (Piper nigrum L.) is grown extensively across many parts of Tamil Nadu. Pepper production is greatly affected by the fungal wilt complex diseases. In this study, the major pepper growing regions of Tamil Nadu were surveyed for two wilt complex diseases viz., slow wilt and basal wilt and the pathogens responsible for slow wilt (Fusarium oxysporum) and basal wilt (Sclerotium rolfsii) were isolated. The morphological and molecular characterization of the pathogens was performed to confirm their identities. The DNA sequence alignment with other sequences from the NCBI GenBank® database and the BLAST results indicate 97-98% similarity with reported F. oxysporum and S. rolfsii. The phylogenetic tree dendrograms were generated for both F. oxysporum and S. rolfsii using the MEGA 11 software and their relative similarities with known sequences were compared to identify the genetic linkage. Detailed investigations are necessary to get more knowledge on the epidemiology and economic importance of slow wilt and basal wilt diseases in black pepper.