MOLECULAR DIAGNOSIS OF NEW Aspergillus niger ISOLATES CAUSING DEGRADATION OF POMEGRANATE (Punica granatum) TREES IN IRAQ

This study was conducted to diagnose seven fungal isolates collected from the stems, branches, leaves, and fruits of some pomegranate trees (Punica granatum) showing symptoms of the degradation and stiffness of branches. These isolates were molecularly identified by the ITS sequence via polymerase chain reaction technique (PCR). Nucleotide sequences generated from the PCR products amplified from the Aspergillus niger isolates were compared with the A. niger isolates available in NCBI (National Center for Biotechnology Information). Results demonstrated that the A. niger isolates 1, 3, 4, 5, and 7 were genetically dissimilar from the other A. niger isolates formerly recorded in NCBI; consequently these isolates have deposited in NCBI under the accession numbers: MW292566, MW293737, MW293737, MW293737, and MW295647.