MORPHOLOGICAL FEATURES OF RIGIDOPORUS MICROPORUS ISOLATED FROM INFECTED MALAYSIAN RUBBER CLONES
A. H. K. Fatin Farhana, A. R. Shamsul Bahri*, T. A. Vu Thanh, and L. Zakaria
Abstract
MORPHOLOGICAL FEATURES OF RIGIDOPORUS MICROPORUS ISOLATED FROM INFECTED MALAYSIAN RUBBER CLONES
H. K. Fatin Farhana 1, A. R. Shamsul Bahri 1 *, T. A. Vu Thanh, 2, and L. Zakaria 3
1School of Food Science and Technology, Universiti Malaysia Terengganu (UMT), 2Department of Plant Science and Environmental Ecology, Faculty of Resource Science and Technology, Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (UNIMAS),
3School of Biological Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM)
Abstract
Active wood degrader, Rigidoporus microporus is detrimental towards the rubber tree (Hevea brasiliensis) causing white root rot disease. The significant economic loss in most Hevea plantations indicates that rubber tree regardless of clones is susceptible to the white root rot disease. Hence, the morphological characteristics of the pathogen isolated from different Malaysian recommended rubber clones were studied. The white, fibrous, stringy rhizomorphs can be seen firmly attached to the bark of the root and able to grow to several metres long. On a plate culture, the colony is white in colour with circular growth and produces moderately fluffy aerial mycelium. Under Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM), the interwoven threadlike hyphae are visible which make up the thick mycelium of the pathogen. The spores are round and attached firmly to the net-like hyphae strand. This finding will provide information in regards to the taxonomical revision of the Rigidoporus genus and preliminary morphological features of the pathogen between Malaysian recommended rubber clones.
Keywords: Hevea brasiliensis, Rigidoporus microporus, white root disease, morphology features.
ARTICLE INFO
Received 29th October 2017
Received in revised form 18th December 2017
Accepted 18th December 2017
*Corresponding author: Shamsul Bahri Abd Razak
Tel: +609-6684757 e-mail: shamsul@umt.edu.my
Malaysian Journal of Microscopy (2017) ISSN: 1823-7010 eISSN 2600-7444
