Isolation and identification of Podospora flexuosa (syn. Cladorrhinum flexuosum), a potential biocontrol agent detected in sugar beet cultivation areas in Türkiye

Abstract

Sugar beet (Beta vulgaris L.) is widely cultivated in Konya province of Türkiye and about one third of Türkiye’s sugar beet production is obtained from this province. As a result of the isolations made from plants showing severe root rot and desiccation symptoms in sugar beet fields in the region in 2015-2017, a new endophytic fungal isolate was obtained from leaves along with soil and foliar disease agents belonging to different fungal species. The fungal isolate has dull yellow, light olive to light brown, fast growing colony-like, flexible conidiophores and septate branched hyphae. The representative fungal isolate did not cause disease symptoms on host plant leaves. Molecular identification of the fungal isolate was carried out using primers specific to the ITS gene region, and it was identified as Podospora flexuosa (syn. Cladorrhinum flexuosum) based on morphological and molecular characteristics. Since P. flexuosa is reported to be a biological control agent living as a saprophyte in soil and plant materials, it is thought that the fungal isolate obtained in our study can be used as a potential biocontrol agent in the biological control of plant disease agents in the future. To the best of our knowledge, this fungal species is reported for the first time for Türkiye.