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Volume 42, Issue 4, December 2024

eSSN 2412-5407
pISSN 0255-982X

مجلة وقاية النبات العربية

Arab Journal of Plant Protection

The Arab Journal of Plant Protection (AJPP) is published by the Arab Society for Plant Protection since 1983.

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Genetic Diversity and Mating Type Distribution of Ascochyta rabiei Populations Affecting Chickpea

B. Attar1*, S. Aahmed2, M. Kayim3, A. Hamwieh4, E. Choueiri5, H.A. Ghannam6 and A. Alabdullah7
(1) School of Natural and Environmental Sciences, Newcastle University, United Kingdom; (2) International Center for Agricultural Research in The Dry Areas (ICARDA), Rabat, Morocco; (3) Department of Plant Protection, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Cukurova, Adana, Turkey; (4) ICARDA, Cairo, Egypt; (5) Department of Plant Protection, Lebanese Agricultural Research Institute, Tal Amara, Lebanon; (6) Department of Plant Food Legumes Research, Agricultural Research Center, Cairo, Egypt; (7) The John Innes Centre, Norwich Research Park, Norwich, United Kingdom. *Email address of the corresponding author: [email protected]

Received: 14/12/2023; Accepted: 18/3/2024

Arab Journal of Plant Protection, Volume 43, Issue 2, June 2025

DOI https://doi.org/10.22268/AJPP-001313

Abstract

Chickpea Ascochyta blight, Ascochyta rabiei is the most important disease of chickpea in many countries. Understanding the genetic diversity of the pathogen is very important to identify resistance sources to virulent populations in national and international chickpea breeding programs. Moreover, knowledge on the existence of mating types can help to fine tune Ascochyta blight management practices. Eight simple sequence repeats (SSR) markers were used to estimate the genetic diversity of 96 isolates collected from four countries (Uzbekistan, Syria, Lebanon, and Turkey). A total of 29 bands were recorded of which 26 were polymorphic. The study showed that the isolates were genetically diverse and isolates from Uzbekistan showed the highest diversity. Following phylogenetic analysis, the isolates were clustered into four groups and isolates from Uzbekistan were distributed in all groups. The two mating types were found in the four countries and no significant deviation from 1:1 ratio for Turkey and Uzbekistan isolates.

Keywords:

Ascochyta rabiei, SSR markers, diversity, mating type.