Macrophomina vaccinii a new species for funga of Iran

In summer 2020, bean plants (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) with symptoms of wilting, chlorosis, drying and the formation of numerous microsclerotia in the stem were detected from Ghachsaran fields, Kohgiluyeh & Boyer-Ahmad provinces of Iran. Infected samples of stem were taken to the laboratory, cut into small sections, sterilized, washed in sterile water, dried on sterile paper towels, and cultured on Potato Dextrose Agar (PDA) amended with 50 µg of kanamycin to prevent bacterial contamination. Isolates were purified by hyphal tip technique. Four isolates from infected stems tissue were recovered. Fungal isolates were identified based on morphological characteristics and molecular data of tef1-α gene. According to the morphological and phylogenetic analysis, the isolates were identified as Macrophomina vaccinii. This is the first report of M. vaccinii, in Iran