Institute of Agricultural Sciences, University of the Punjab, Lahore, Pakistan
Research Article
Genetic Variation among the Penicillia Isolated From Citrus under Storage Condition
Author(s): Ahmad Ali Shahid, Mehra Azam, Muhammad Ali*, Kiran Nawaz and Moazzam Anees
Pakistan is the sixth largest producer of Kinow (mandarin) and oranges in the world, with 2.1 million tons. In this research, fruit and vegetable markets in Lahore were visited and forty infected citrus samples were collected, surface sterilised and inoculated on potato dextrose agar medium for isolation. According to microscopy and colony characteristics five species of the genus Penicillium (P. digitatum, P. expansum, P. biourgeianum) were identified. Genomic DNA was isolated and internal transcribed spacer (ITS) was amplified by using primers ITS 1 and ITS4 and the 5.8S rRNA genes of fungi. Purified and amplified PCR products were later on sequenced and the sequenced homology was studied by BLAST and searching against databases of Genebank or NCBI software. The DNA sequence homology showed that isolates contain more than 98% homology with P. expansum, P. digitatum and P. biourgeian.. View more»