Morphocultural Characterization and Genetic Diversity Analysis of Fusarium Isolates from Lakatan Plantations in Koronadal City of South Cotabato

The occurrence of Fusarium wilt disease, caused by Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. cubense (Foc), has threatened banana productivity across the globe including the locally grown Lakatan variety in Koronadal City, South Cotabato. In this study, Fusarium pathogen infecting Lakatan plantations in Koronadal City, South Cotabato was isolated and characterized culturally, morphologically, and molecularly. Confirmed cases of Fusarium were geotagged to reflect areas with infection. In the present study, 18 fungal isolates out of the 30 Fusarium suspected pseudostem processed samples from 16 different locations were collected. Morphocultural characterization of fungal isolates showed similar characteristics as the reference Foc pathogen. Molecular and phylogenetic analysis of one fungal isolate MS2S1 as a representative of the pathogen in Koronadal City suggested its close association with F. oxysporum strain having 98% similarity based on BLAST results, confirming the morphocultural characteristics of the fungal isolate collected. Moreover, 3 barangays in Koronadal City with Lakatan plantations have been found to have been infected with F. oxysporum as reflected in the generated geographical map distribution of the putative Fusarium isolates using the QGIS3.22 application software.