Vegetative compatibility groups inVerticillium dahliae isolates from cotton in Turkey

Verticillium dahliae Kleb. with a complicated genetic diversity is a widely distributed major pathogen resulting in cotton wilt, which causes high economic losses in cotton lint production in the cotton belt of Turkey. A collection of 70 TurkishV. dahliae isolates (68 from wilted cotton plants in 28 districts and two from watermelon plants in two districts) were tested for vegetative compatibility by observing heterokaryon formation among complementary nitrate-nonutilizing (nit) mutants. The mutants were tested against international reference tester isolates and also were paired with one another. Thirty-nine isolates were assigned to vegetative compatibility group (VCG) 2B, 19 to VCG2A and three to VCG4B. One isolate was self-incompatible and eight others could not be assigned to any of the identified VCGs because theirnit mutants showed negative reactions with the tester isolates of four VCGs or theirnit mutants reverted back to the wild type. This is the first report of VCGs inV. dahliae from cotton in Turkey.