Determination of fungal agents causing capsule blight in the production of poppy (Papaver somniferum L.) in Uşak province

This study was carried out in order to determine the disease agents causing capsule blight in popy production areas in Uşak province, to diagnose them by morphological and molecular methods, and to determine the sensitivity of popy varieties in vitro and in vivo against Brachycladium isolates, which have the highest presence in popy production areas in Uşak. In the surveys conducted in Uşak province and its districts in 2018 and 2019, a total of 5100 poppy plants were examined in the area of approximately 1950 da, and isolations were made from the capsule, stem and seeds of the diseased plants. As a result of the isolations, Brachycladium sp., Alternaria spp., and Cladosporium isolates were obtained, respectively. Brachycladium sp. was detected in all fields (100%) in both years. At the end of the pathogenicity test performed with 84 selected Brachycladium isolates, all isolates were found to be pathogenic. Pathogen isolates were identified by morphological and molecular methods. Morphological characterization was confirmed by amplifying ITS region with universal primers ITS5/NL4 in Polymerase chain reaction (PCR). BLAST analysis by using GenBank (NCBI) database indicated that 25 isolates showed 100 % similarity to Brachycladium papaveris. The effect of seed and seedlings on germination performance and seedling development was investigated in a cultivars reaction study conducted against B. papaveris in 14 different poppy varieties in both in vitro and in vivo conditions. It was determined that isolates obtained from different parts of the diseased poppy plants showed different effects on the cultivars used. In studies conducted under in vitro conditions, the most tolerant cultivars were Ofis NM, Ofis 1, TMO-1 and TMO-3. In vivo conditions, the most tolerant cultivars are TMO 2, TMO 1, Ofis NM, Ofis 1, Ofis 96, Ofis 95 and Ofis NP.