Molecular characterization of the main fungi associated to Bambara groundnut foliar diseases in Burkina Faso

Abstract

Objective: This study aims to update the database of fungi associated to Bambara groundnut foliar diseases in Burkina Faso using both molecular and morphological identification approaches.Methodology and Results: In this study, molecular approach based on the sequencing of ITS (Internal Transcripted Spacer) region of fungi and  morphological approach were used to identify the main fungi associated to Bambara groundnut foliar diseases. The study was performed with universal polymerase chain reaction (PCR) primer ITS1/ITS4. BlastN comparisons between 19 fungal isolates contigs of the 16 major fungi were produced by their DNA sequences assembly and GenBank sequences yielded identity scores of 99 to 100 % with all of them. The degrees of similarity between these contigs and the loci sequences of classified fungi in GenBank indicate that our fungal isolates are the same species with those in Genbank, particularly the first of the list show after the blastN. It is the first report of molecular characterization of the main fungi infecting Bambara groundnut in Burkina Faso.Conclusion and Application of results: Nineteen fungi associated to  Bambara groundnut foliar diseases were identified and can be taken as targets in varietal improvement of Bambara groundnut for resistance to fungal diseases in Burkina Faso.Key words: Bambara groundnut, fungi, molecular characterization, PCR primer ITS1/ITS4, Burkina Faso.