PCR Amplification of ITS Region of Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. lycopersici Isolates of Tomato in Tamil Nadu

The soil borne fungi Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. lycopersici (FOL) causing wilt disease in tomato was isolated from different places of Tamil Nadu. Isolates of this fungus can differ in virulence, colony morphology are not correlated. For easy identification and overcoming such constraints Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) was carried out to characterize twenty isolates of FOL by internal transcribed spacer (ITS) regions of their rRNA gene. ITS sequences were amplified with ITS 1 & ITS 4 primers from DNA extracted from all the isolates. Amplification products of 560 bp were obtained from all isolates including positive control. Hence these results suggest that ITS 1 and ITS 4 was shown to be useful for detection Fusarium wilt pathogen. Furthermore these primers can be used to study the structure of Fusarium communities and their distribution patterns in Tamil nadu.