Determination of fungal diseases in garlic cultivation areas in Gaziantep province

In this thesis, determination of disease prevalence, isolation frequency, identification of species and diasease severity of fungal disease were aimed in garlic cultivation areas in Gaziantep Province. In a total of 42 garlic production areas of Gaziantep Province, surveys were conducted during April 2018 and April 2019. The isolated fungi have been identified at the genus and species level according to their cultural and morphological characteristics. Fusarium spp. was determined as the most common in garlic production areas and its prevalence rates varied between 48% and 67.4%. The other identified genera were determined as Macrophomina, Rhizoctonia and Puccinia. The Fusarium isolates were identified as F. oxysporum, F. poae, F. proliferatum, F. semitectum, F. sporotrichioides and F. verticillioides based on morphological and cultural characteristics. The other diagnosed species were Macrophomina phaseolina, Rhizoctonia solani and Puccinia porri, which causes rust disease in garlic and onion. F. oxysporum was the most commonly isolated species and frequency of isolation ranged from 20.1% to 39.8% F. sporotrichioides was determined as the least prevalent species with a rate of 11.4%. According to the pathogenicity test results, the disease severity of the identified species varied between 64% and 80%. Consequently, in the garlic cultivation areas of Gaziantep Province, a total of 9 species belonging to 4 genera have been identified and have been demonstrated that these species are potential problems in terms of garlic production