Candidate genes of Macrophomina phaseolina involved in the pathogenicity

Macrophomina phaseolina is a worldwide soil-borne fungus, which occurs ubiquitously. It is responsible for causing a variety of severe diseases in crops, including rot of stem and root, charcoal rot, and seedling blight. Various crops, such as soybean, cotton, groundnut, and sorghum, suffer from the significant losses in yield due to pathogenic nature of the fungus. Fungus needs high temperatures and low soil moisture for profuse growth and development. The main characteristic of M. phaseolina is wilting; the microsclerotia plug the vessels of xylem and chock the uptake of water generally. They spread in upward direction, and symptoms appear near the flowering stage of the crops. Therefore, understanding the mechanisms of pathogen infection and its interactions with host plants is crucial for the crop immunity for their survival as well as pathogen control.