An Analysis of Genetic Diversity in Hyplal Tip Isolates of Promising Mycoherbicide Alternaria alternata for Control of Amaranthus retroflexus

An isolate of Fusarium moniliforme, a pathogen of winter wild oat (Avena ludoviciana), was obtained from Tehran Province, Iran, in 1994. A host range test performed on wheat, barley, maize, rye, millet, crested wheatgrass, faba bean, red bean, green bean, sunflower, soybean, oilseed rape, cotton, safflower, cucumber,water melon, berseem clover, and sainfoin, resulted in no symptom induction by the pathogen. However, winter wild oat, crested wheatgrass, johnsongrass and tomato showed susceptibility to the pathogen with 78, 24, 19 and 17% mortality, respectively. The results indicate that this pathogen could be considered as a potential biological agent for the control of winter wild oat.