Schizophyllum commune Fr. associated to Hevea brasiliensis (Willd. ex A. Juss.) Müll. Arg. In Mexico

Abstract

Hevea brasiliensis is the most economically important species of the Hevea genus, from which 99 % of the world's natural rubber production is obtained. During 2018, total production was 75 922 tons obtained from 28 172 ha planted in five states of Mexico: Chiapas, Oaxaca, Tabasco, Veracruz and Puebla. Veracruz is in first place with 66 % production. The diseases in the rubber tree affect the optimal production of latex worldwide. In 2018, the incidence in nursery of a rot in rubber stumps grafted with the clone IAN-873 in Martínez de la Torre municipality was detected; therefore, the objective of this investigation was to identify the agent associated to stump rot in this place. Samples of woody tissue with rot and mycelium were cultured in Malta Agar medium (MA) and incubated at 28 ± 1 C for 72 h from which colonies with white-cream, cottony mycelium developed. Based on the culture morphology in the MA medium and the phylogenetic analysis by amplification of the ITS region with the ITS5 and ITS4 universal primers from the isolation, Schizophyllum commune was identified as the fungus associated to H. brasiliensis stump rot, thus becoming the first report in Mexico.