MOLECULAR STUDIES OF POST-HARVEST FUNGAL PEACH FRUIT ROTS; FUSARIUM SPOROTRICHIOIDES, ASPERGILLUS NIGER, ASPERGILLUS FLAVUS, PENICILLIUM CHRYSOGENUM AND CLADOSPORIUM PSEUDOCLADOSPORIOIDES

Postharvest fungal rots are a continuous threat to perishable fruits worldwide. Fungal contamination is a significant factor affecting quality of peaches and resulting decline in their quantity. Postharvest health of peaches is of major concern for producers, consumers, marketers, and food industries globally. Early specie level detection of these deteriorating fungal rots is extremely important to adopt timely preventive measures and enhance shelf-life of peaches. In present study five fungal phytopathogenic rots were detected from peaches and identified based on molecular characterization using ITS universal fungal primers, EF-1α and β-tubulin (benA). Multi-locus characterization revealed fungal rots viz; Fusarium sporotrichioides, Aspergillus niger, Aspergillus flavus, Penicillium chrysogenum and Cladosporium pseudocladosporioides respectively. Phylogenetic tree was constructed in MEGAX software using Neighbour- Joining Method and 1000 bootstrap replicates were selected to represent the evolutionary history of the taxa analyzed. Prior to management of various fungal rots, their accurate diagnosis is compulsory. Our results are significant in developing opportune control strategies from the field to storage hence reducing qualitative and quantitative losses and to enhance shelf-life of peaches.