Molecular identification of pathogenic Fusarium species, the causal agents of tomato wilt in western Iran

Fusarium species are causal agents of fungal diseases occurring frequently in numerous agriculturally important plants, including potato, garlic and are one of the common pathogens of tomato, causing root rot in the west part of Iran. Therefore, the objectives of this study were to isolate and identify disease-causing Fusarium species from infected tomatoes based on the morphological and molecular characteristics. Twenty-five isolates of Fusarium were obtained from infected root of tomato plants collected from the fields in different regions of western Iran. Based on morphological features, the strains were classified into four following Fusarium species: F. oxysporum, F. redolens, F. proliferatum and F. verticillioides. The phylogenetic trees based on tef1 and tub2 dataset clearly distinguished closely related species. All of the isolates were evaluated for their pathogenicity on healthy tomato seedlings in the greenhouse. This is the first report on molecular identification of Fusarium species isolated from tomato plants cultivated in Iran.