PMID- 34648523
OWN - NLM
STAT- MEDLINE
DCOM- 20211203
LR  - 20231102
IS  - 1932-6203 (Electronic)
IS  - 1932-6203 (Linking)
VI  - 16
IP  - 10
DP  - 2021
TI  - Diversity of fungal pathogens associated with loquat and development of novel 
      virulence scales.
PG  - e0257951
LID - 10.1371/journal.pone.0257951 [doi]
LID - e0257951
AB  - Loquat [Eriobotrya japonica (Thunb.) Lindl.] is an important fruit crop in 
      Pakistan; however, a constant decline in its production is noted due biotic and 
      abiotic stresses, particularly disease infestation. Fungal pathogens are the 
      major disease-causing agents; therefore, their identification is necessary for 
      devising management options. This study explored Taxila, Wah-Cantt, Tret, Chatar, 
      Murree, Kalar-Kahar, Choa-Saidan-Shah and Khan-Pur districts in the Punjab and 
      Khyber Paktoon Khawa (KPK) provinces of Pakistan to explore the diversity of 
      fungal pathogens associated with loquat. The samples were collected from these 
      districts and their microscopic characterizations were accomplished for reliable 
      identification. Alternaria alternata, Curvularia lunata, Lasiodiplodia 
      theobromae, Aspergilus flavis, Botrytis cinerea, Chaetomium globosum, 
      Pestalotiopsis mangiferae and Phomopsis sp. were the fungal pathogens infesting 
      loquat in the study area. The isolates of A. alternata and C. lunata were 
      isolated from leaf spots and fruit rot, while the isolates of L. theobromae were 
      associated with twig dieback. The remaining pathogens were allied with fruit rot. 
      The nucleotide evidence of internal transcribed spacer (ITS) regions (ITS1, 5.8S, 
      and ITS2) were computed from all the pathogens and submitted in the database of 
      National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI). For multigene analysis, 
      beta-tubulin (BT) gene and glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH) 
      regions were explored for A. alternata and C. lunata isolates, respectively. The 
      virulence scales of leaf spots, fruit rot, and twig dieback diseases of loquat 
      were developed for the first time through this study. It is the first 
      comprehensive study with morpho-molecular identification, and newly developed 
      virulence scales of the fungal pathogens associated with loquat, which improves 
      the understanding of these destructive diseases.
FAU - Fahim Abbas, Muhammad
AU  - Fahim Abbas M
AD  - Department of Plant Pathology, Faculty of Agriculture, Lasbela University of 
      Water Agriculture and Marine Sciences (LUAWMS) Uthal, Balochistan, Pakistan.
FAU - Batool, Sana
AU  - Batool S
AD  - Department of Plant Pathology, Pir Mehr Ali Shah Arid Agriculture University, 
      Rawalpindi, Pakistan.
FAU - Khaliq, Sobia
AU  - Khaliq S
AD  - Department of Entomology, Pir Mehr Ali Shah Arid Agriculture University, 
      Rawalpindi, Pakistan.
FAU - Mubeen, Sidra
AU  - Mubeen S
AD  - Department of Chemistry, Kutchery Campus, The Women University Multan, Multan, 
      Pakistan.
FAU - Azziz-Ud-Din
AU  - Azziz-Ud-Din
AD  - Department of Biotechnology and Genetic Engineering, Hazara University, Mansehra, 
      Pakistan.
FAU - Ullah, Naseeb
AU  - Ullah N
AD  - Department of Biotechnology and Genetic Engineering, Hazara University, Mansehra, 
      Pakistan.
FAU - Zafar, Khalida
AU  - Zafar K
AD  - Department of Botany, Islamia College, Peshawar, Pakistan.
FAU - Rafiq, Muhammad
AU  - Rafiq M
AUID- ORCID: 0000-0002-1804-4947
AD  - Department of Plant Pathology, Faculty of Agriculture, University of the Punjab, 
      Lahore, Pakistan.
FAU - Al-Sadi, Abdullah M
AU  - Al-Sadi AM
AD  - Department of Plant Sciences, College of Agricultural and Marine Sciences, Sultan 
      Qaboos University, Alkhoud, Oman.
FAU - Alotaibi, Saqer S
AU  - Alotaibi SS
AUID- ORCID: 0000-0002-6162-7953
AD  - Department of Biotechnology, College of Science, Taif University, Taif, Saudi 
      Arabia.
FAU - El-Shehawi, Ahmed M
AU  - El-Shehawi AM
AD  - Department of Biotechnology, College of Science, Taif University, Taif, Saudi 
      Arabia.
FAU - Li, Yunzhou
AU  - Li Y
AUID- ORCID: 0000-0003-2591-7344
AD  - Department of Plant Pathology, College of Agriculture, Guizhou University, 
      Guiyang, Guizhou, China.
FAU - Zuan, Ali Tan Kee
AU  - Zuan ATK
AUID- ORCID: 0000-0003-0473-4303
AD  - Department of Land Management, Faculty of Agriculture, Universiti Putra Malaysia, 
      Selangor, Malaysia.
FAU - Ansari, Mohammad Javed
AU  - Ansari MJ
AUID- ORCID: 0000-0002-8718-3078
AD  - Department of Botany, Hindu College Moradabad, Mahatma Jyotiba Phule Rohilkhand 
      University Bareilly, Bareilly, India.
LA  - eng
PT  - Journal Article
PT  - Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
PT  - Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.
PT  - Retracted Publication
DEP - 20211014
PL  - United States
TA  - PLoS One
JT  - PloS one
JID - 101285081
RN  - 0 (DNA, Fungal)
SB  - IM
RIN - PLoS One. 2022 Aug 3;17(8):e0272197. PMID: 35921307
MH  - Ascomycota/genetics/*pathogenicity
MH  - *Biodiversity
MH  - Crops, Agricultural/*microbiology
MH  - DNA, Fungal/genetics
MH  - Eriobotrya/*microbiology
MH  - Fruit/microbiology
MH  - Mitosporic Fungi/genetics/*pathogenicity
MH  - Pakistan
MH  - Phylogeny
MH  - Plant Diseases/*microbiology
MH  - Plant Leaves/microbiology
MH  - Virulence
PMC - PMC8516230
COIS- The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.
EDAT- 2021/10/15 06:00
MHDA- 2021/12/15 06:00
PMCR- 2021/10/14
CRDT- 2021/10/14 17:19
PHST- 2021/07/12 00:00 [received]
PHST- 2021/09/15 00:00 [accepted]
PHST- 2021/10/14 17:19 [entrez]
PHST- 2021/10/15 06:00 [pubmed]
PHST- 2021/12/15 06:00 [medline]
PHST- 2021/10/14 00:00 [pmc-release]
AID - PONE-D-21-22642 [pii]
AID - 10.1371/journal.pone.0257951 [doi]
PST - epublish
SO  - PLoS One. 2021 Oct 14;16(10):e0257951. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0257951. 
      eCollection 2021.