New Record of Neodeightonia Phoenicum as a Cause of Black Scorch Disease on Date Palms in Iraq

Abstract

Black scorch is one of the most important diseases that affect date palm trees, Thielaviopsisparadoxa is the main cause of this disease all over the world. In this study, Neodeightoniaphoenicum isolated from palm trees infected with black scorch disease in tissue culture palm orchards in Basrah Governorate .The fungus identified morphologically and molecularly using the primers ITS1-ITS4. Molecular levels have been deposited in National Center for Biotechnology Information  (NCBI)GenBankwith (Accession No: MZ675601.1).The results of the morphological and molecularidentification were consistent. A pathogenicity test showed the ability of the fungus N. phoenicum to cause infection on the palm rachis inside the laboratory, and the infection was confirmed using Koch's postulates. This is the first report of N. phoenicum as a cause of black scorch disease in palm trees in Iraq