Molecular identification and morphological characterisation of multiple fungal pathogens of triticale in Northern Kazakhstan

Background and Aim. Тtriticale is classified as an amphidiploids and is the first grain crop created by humans, possessing high yield potential along with favorable biochemical and technological characteristics. For a long time, it was believed that triticale, during selection, inherited disease resistance from wheat and resistance to abiotic factors from rye. However, in recent years, there have been several reports that triticale is to fungal diseases, which reduces the quality of the harvested crop. The aim of our study is to examine and characterize the fungal pathogens of triticale in Northern Kazakhstan, and conduct molecular-genetic identification of the main fungal pathogens.MaterialsandMethods. The study was conducted of triticale from two varieties, Dauren and Rossika. Primary fungal isolation was carried out on agarized nutrient media, with preliminary identification using microscopy. Molecular genetic analysis was performed to determine the species of fungi. Results. During the study, we isolated five major fungal pathogens from different parts of the plant. Data on the percentage of infection by the main fungal pathogens were provided. Three of them are pathogens of alternariosis – Alternaria alternate (more common in grains 39%, in leaves and scales of seeds 19-21%), fusariosis – Fusarium tricinctum (occurrence: in roots 57%, in grains 17%, in leaves 10%) and helminthosporiosis – Bipolaris sorokiniana (occurrence in roots and leaves 0.83%) of grain crops, which can lead to a decrease and loss of yield due to their production of mycotoxins. A cultural and morphological description of the main fungal pathogens of grain crops was provided. Moleculargenetic identification was carried out using the ribosomal marker ITS (internal transcribed spacer).Conclusion. According to result of our research, we characterized and molecular-genetically identified the most common fungi found on different parts of the triticale plant.