MOLECULAR PCR ASSAYS FOR DETECTION OF Ganoderma PATHOGENIC TO OIL PALM IN MALAYSIA

Abstract

Ganoderma boninense is a fungal pathogen that causes basal stem rot (BSR) disease in oil palm. Being a serious disease problem to the oil palm industry, monitoring and detecting the pathogen is of the utmost importance to reduce disease spread and facilitate effective management strategies. Because traditional culture-based assay is time-consuming, labour-intensive and required special skills in mycology, plant pathologists are turning to more accurate, sensitive and fast methods such as molecular techniques. In this study, polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assays were developed to detect pathogenic Ganoderma species causing BSR disease in oil palm using a primer designed based on the ribosomal DNA internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region. The effectiveness of conventional and real-time PCR assays was analysed compared to the traditional isolation-based assay. For artificially inoculated oil palm plantlets, consistent detection of G. boninense was observed. Real-time PCR assay has shown to be more sensitive and rapid in detecting G. boninense in field samples and could potentially serve as a validation tool to other detection techniques for implementation of effective disease control measures.

An In-Depth Study of Phytopathogenic Ganoderma: Pathogenicity, Advanced Detection Techniques, Control Strategies, and Sustainable Management

“…They showed higher sensitivity and speed than conventional methods, successfully detecting the pathogen in inoculated plantlets. This offers promising prospects for effective disease control [ 164 ].…”

Ganoderma lucidum: Insights on host range, diagnosis, and management strategies

“…Out of these 320 kb fragments of GanET-ITS3 was very crucial for identification of infection [51]. Similarly, a study developed Real-time PCR using primers GB4F (5′-CGTTCGTTTGACGAG TTTGC-3′) and reverse GB4R (5′-GGTTGGTTTCTTT TCCT-3′), designed based on specific sequence data for the ITS region universal fungal primer pair ITS1 and ITS4 for rapid detection of pathogenic Ganoderma species to oil palms of Malaysia [54]. A number of other studies [54,[55][56][57] have developed similar type of protocols for rapid identification of Ganoderma infection in oil palms but no study has been found to detect G. lucidum infection in D. sissoo, S. catechu, and other forest species and hence researchers are expected to focus in this virtue.…”

OIL PALM ECONOMIC PERFORMANCE IN MALAYSIA AND R&D PROGRESS IN 2022

“…Besides, disease conquest by fungal control agents has been found equivalent to the chemical counterparts Sundram et al, 2022). Fungicides such as hexaconazole are effective in treating upper and basal stem rot Ganoderma diseases in oil palm (Nur-Rashyeda et al, 2022). The infected palms continue to survive and actively produce fruit bunches.…”