Panteleev S. V., Baranov O. Yu. Molecular Genetic Diagnostics of Forest Plant Mycosis Agents, Transported by Insects

In addition to causing direct injury to plants, insects also represent an indirect threat, acting as vectors of disease causative agents for many plant species. In the article, the author discusses aspects of molecular genetic techniques in the diagnosis of fungal species composition in the tissues of insects in order to clarify their role as vectors of pathogens of major diseases of forest tree species in nurseries. The experimental material was collected in the five forest nurseries of Gomel and Mogilev regions of Belarus. The collected material was introduced insects of four orders: Hymenoptera, Diptera, Coleoptera, Hemiptera. Additional samples were presented by the samples of the affected tissues of seedlings of Norway spruce (Picea abies (L.) Karst.), Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.), Western arborvitae (Thuja occidentalis L.), Siberian fir (Abies sibirica L.), European larch (Larix decidua Mill.). Research used different types of DNA markers, including sequencing of DNA loci of the phytopathogens. As a marker was selected region of the ribosomal DNA18S rRNA – ITS1 – 5,8S rDNA – ITS2 – 28S rRNA. Comparative DNA analysis of the species composition of plant pathogenic fungi in samples of insects and plants showed that the five species identified in the nurseries, and belonging to the genera Cladosporium and Alternaria, are present in insects inhabiting the forest nurseries. It is established that the insects are one of factors of potential transport and distribution of a number of phytopathogenic fungi, in particular of the genera Cladosporium and Alternaria.