First report of Athelia rolfsii on jackfruit (Artocarpus heterophyllus)

Abstract

In May 2019, mature jackfruit (Artocarpus heterophyllus) fruits were found infected with fan-shaped white mycelia and brown to black sclerotia at the Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute (BARI), Gazipur, Bangladesh. The fungus was successfully isolated on potato dextrose agar medium. The internal transcribed spacer region of rDNA was amplified using the primer pair ITS1 and ITS4. Based on morphology and molecular characterisation, the fungus was identified as Athelia rolfsii. This is the first report of fruit rot disease on jackfruit (Artocarpus heterophyllus) caused by Athelia rolfsii in Bangladesh and worldwide.