First record of Endophytic binucleate Rhizoctonia solani Isolated from Halophyte Plants Trachomitum venetum and Study of its Enzymatic Properties in Basrah, Iraq

Abstract

Abstract The aims of the present work were to study endophytic fungi isolated from halophyte Trachomitum venetum which were spread in the saline areas in the city of Basrah. Binucleate Rhizoctonia solani was isolated from roots of Trachomitum venetum, the fungus was identified basis on its morphological features and the number of nuclei in mycelium cells’ it turns out it’s binucleate and molecular based on amplification of the ITS gene region and the nucleotide sequence of the fungus was deposited in the Genebank under the accession number KX118360.1. The ability of the fungus to produce Polyphenol oxidase (PPO), Amylase, Cellulase, Protease, Lipase and Pectinase enzymes were examined, the results showed that R. solani has the ability to produce PPO and does not have the ability to produce other enzymes. The metabolites of the fungal filtrate were identified using GC-MS technology and the results showed that this fungus produces 16 compounds as extracellular secondary metabolites, the most important of which are n-Hexadecanoic acid, 2(5H)-Furanone and Octadecanoic acid. This is the first study for isolating binucleate R. solani from halophyte plant T. venetum in Iraq.