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Characterization of fungi transferred by dust storms in Kuwait and their plant pathogenicity

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Abstract

Dust storms carry large amounts of plant detritus and microorganisms that may cause diseases in humans, animals or plants. These storms are frequent in Kuwait throughout the year. This research was conducted to identify the fungal species carried by the dust storms in Kuwait, originating from the northwesterly direction, with emphasis on plant pathogens. Fungi were isolated from settled dust samples and identified using established microbiological and molecular approaches. Fungal isolates identified as Fusarium oxysporum from settled dust were examined for pathogenicity using a number of crop plants. In total, 17 genera of fungi were identified in the dust samples. These fungi included plant pathogens or facultative plant parasites that were transported in the dust storms as viable propagules. The most common dust-carried fungi belonged to the genera Fusarium, Alternaria, Ulocladium, Phoma, Aspergillus, Acremonium and Penicillium. The F. oxysporum isolates that had been characterized by partial 18S rRNA gene sequencing were pathogenic, causing root and stem rot in tomato, bean and cucumber, but not squash.

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Acknowledgments

This research was funded by the College of Graduate Studies at Kuwait University. Special thanks to Mrs. Rehab Rayan for her valuable help in the laboratory work; to Mrs. Sheela Thankakkon, Biotechnology Unit at Kuwait University, for her help in DNA sequencing (GS01/02); and to Mr. George Varthese for helping in photography. We would like to thank Prof. Samir Radwan and Dr. Martha Thomson for reviewing the manuscript. Most of the dust samples were provided through research project SL09/08.

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  1. Department of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Science, Kuwait University, P. O. Box 5969, 13060, Safat, Kuwait

    D. Al-Bader, A. Alqodaiby & P. Suleman

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  1. D. Al-Bader
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  2. A. Alqodaiby
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  3. P. Suleman
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Correspondence to D. Al-Bader.

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Al-Bader, D., Alqodaiby, A. & Suleman, P. Characterization of fungi transferred by dust storms in Kuwait and their plant pathogenicity. Aerobiologia 32, 335–345 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10453-015-9405-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10453-015-9405-3

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