Identification and characterization of pestalotiopsis species using morphological and molecular techniques.

Pestalotiopsis is pathogens which usually cause diseases on stressed plants. It is very hard to define Pestalotiopsis morphologically because Pestalotiopsis is a complex genus and consists of members difficult to classify at the species level. In this work, morphological and molecular characteristics of Pestalotiopsis were studied. The growth of 17 Pestalotiopsis was tested on malt extract agar (MEA). The molecular studies of 13 Pestalotiopsis at species level were assessed by using random amplification of polymorphic DNA (RAPD). There was no significant different on the growth of conidia color and shape. However, the conidia tend to varied in pigmentation of median celts, acervuli production and number of apical appendages ranging from 2 to 4. Phylogenetic analysis proved that Pestalotiopsis can be categorized based on pigmentation of median cells.