Fusarium solani causing stem rot and wilt of lucky Bamboo ( Dracaena sanderiana) in India-first record

摘要

Lucky Bamboo ( Dracaena sanderiana Sander ex Mast) is a tropical evergreen perennial woody, shrubby species. This is native of Cameroon area in tropical West Africa. This has flexible strap-shaped leaves and slender stems. Being an indoor house plant it grows very well under indirect lighting and have gained popularity because of adoption of new age culture. It multiplies readily by stem cuttings. In year 2014–2017, stem rot and wilt symptoms were observed in D. sanderiana cuttings. The first observed symptoms were yellowing in leaves with wilting. In due course of time the leaves turned dry and light brown with necrosis. On splitting open, rotted areas were seen in the middle with a visible brown discoloration in cortical region. The infected plants died within a few weeks. The fungal pathogen Fusarium was observed and isolated from the collar, roots, stems. This was morphologically confirmed as Fusarium solani and also through amplification and sequencing in ITS region, which showed cent percent similarity with the sequences of F. solani available in NCBI genbank. As per record in literature this is the first record of stem rot and wilt caused by F. solani in plants of D. sanderiana from India.