Molecular characterization of Sclerotium spp in Meghalaya

Sclerotium delphinii and S. rolfsii are the major soil borne plant pathogens infecting many plant species worldwide. The fungus S. delphinii closely resembles S. rolfsii and causes similar symptoms. The pathogen S. rolfsii differs from S. delphinii in few aspects but still differentiation based on morphology alone is difficult. Isolations were done from the infected soybean plants showing collar rot symptoms. Molecular identification of Sclerotium isolates using 28s rDNA region revealed that both Sclerotium rolfsii and S. delphinii are present in this region.