Molecular Identification of Mushroom Causing Wilt Disease in Clove Plants (Syzygium aromaticum L.)

ABSTRACT Wilt disease in clove plants (Syzygium aromaticum L.) becomes one of the main factors inhibiting the production of cloves in Buleleng Regency Bali. This study aims to identify the pathogen causing wilt disease in clove plants in Buleleng Regency Bali. The identification of the pathogen causing wilt disease in clove plants was done macroscopically, microscopically, and molecularly. The macroscopic characteristic were that the color of the mushroom was shiny white when seen from the surface and the base of a Petri dish, colonies of fungi grew in a Petri dish walls, fungi formed aerial hyphae and fruit bodies. The microscopic characteristic was that the hyphae formed clamp connection. The molecular identification of the pathogen causing wilt disease was performed using PCR (Polymerase Chain Reaction) with primers internal transcribed spacer (ITS) to produce DNA fragment size of about 580 bp. The phylogenetic tree wilt disease-causing pathogen isolates was based on the method Neighbor Joining Tree with bootstrap values of 1000 was in a clade with Schizophyllum commune. Conclusion of the study results showed that the pathogen isolated at the clove root having a wilt disease symptom in Bali was Schizophyllum commune Fr. (Schizophyllaceae, Basidiomycota). Key words: molecular identification, wilt disease, internal transcribed spacer (ITS)