First report of Fusarium oxysporum associated with apple crown and root rot in Turkey

combined sequence dataset verified the identification.To confirm the pathogenicity, the roots of five apple seedlings were wounded and dipped in 50 ml of the conidia suspension of 1 × 10 6 spores/ml from a 15-day-old culture.The inoculated seedlings were cultivated in a growth chamber at 25 °C.Controls were inoculated with sterile distilled water.After five weeks, the pathogen caused brown to red discolored areas on crown and root of apple seedlings.The pathogen was re-isolated and re-identified.No symptoms were observed in the control.To our knowledge, this is the first report of apple crown and root rot caused by F. oxysporum in Turkey.