PCR-RFLP anayses of aspergillus species isolated from pi̇staci̇a vera

Pistacia vera L. is a deciduous tree native to Western Asia and parts of the Middle East that belongs to the family Anacardiaceae (Woodroof, 1967; Tous & Ferguson, 1996). Pistachio is a type of dioecious trees planted on a large scale in the Mediterranean regions of Europe, North Africa, Middle East, California and China (Onay vd., 2004). Main pistachio producing countries are Iran, Turkey, Syria, and U.S.A. (FAO, 2004). Pistachio production in Turkey are mainly conducted in the Southeastern Anatolia region and Gaziantep, Sanliurfa and Siirt provinces have large Pistachios orchards. Many of the diseases have been identified on Pistachio, some of them causing severe damages. One of the most important types of fungal diseases that infect pistachio fruit is Aspergillus spp. that is a diverse genus with high economic and social impact. Species occur worldwide in various habitats and they are known to spoil food, produce mycotoxins and are frequently reported as human and animal pathogens. As the Aspergillus produce large amounts of Aflatoxin in many of pistachios in the countries in the Middle East, this led to great fear about its possible presence in pistachios. This study aimed to determine DNA polymorphism of Aspergillus spp isolated from pistachio fruits grown in different climatic regions of Turkey. PCR-RFLP A total of 27 Aspergillus species was isolated and PCR based assay was developed for the detection and identification of Aspergillus spp using specific primers designed from nuclear ribosomal internal transcribed spacer (ITS), Actin and β-tubulin. The PCR products were subjected to RFLP analyses with several restriction enzymes namely HindIII, PstI, TaqI and EcoRI. Low range of polymorphism were detected among Aspergillus isolates with ITS, Actin and β-tubulin through PCR-RFLP.