First report of Alternaria tenuissima causing leaf spot in Podophyllum hexandrum in Kashmir valley, India

Abstract

Podophyllum hexandrum (Royle), commonly known as Himalayan Mayapple is a medicinally important plant that thrives well in alpine Himalayas of Jammu and Kashmir. This study focused on the isolation of fungal endophytes from different tissues (roots, leaves) of P. hexandrum. Five endophytic fungi were isolated, of which one was found to be pathogenic. ITS primer gene sequencing using nucleotide BLAST identified four non-pathogenic isolates viz PdFRE1, PdFLE2, PdFLE3, PdFLE4 as Xylaria karsticola, Sordariales sp., Nemania diffusa and Nodulisporium sp., respectively. The pathogenic isolate PdFLP was studied in detail. Microscopic and molecular analysis of the pathogenic fungus PdFLP was conducted. BLAST analysis showed 100% nucleotide identity with previously identified A. tenuissima isolate (ON712430.1). The pathogen thus isolated was identified as Alternaria tenuissima and the pathogenicity was established. To our knowledge, this is the first report of leaf-spot of P.hexandrum, caused by Alternaria tenuissima in Kashmir valley.