Degradation of pectic components of plant tissue is almost inevitable
in rot diseases particularly in fruit and vegetable rots (Al-
Hindi et al., 2011; Monilola and Abiola, 2011; Adisa and Fajola,
1982). The degree of pectinase production is an indicative of pathogenic
potential of the isolate for rot pathogens. Prominent zones
of clearance were observed on pectin agar plates containing the
visual growth of the isolated pathogens when stained with 1%
CTAB (Fig. 4), which indicated the utilization of pectin strongly
by the strains. During quantification it was found that the amount
of reducing sugar increases along with days of incubation in all of
the seven pathogenic isolates (Fig. 5). Among the seven different
isolates the pathogen VBAM1 can produce a maximum of
611.26 lg/ml of reducing sugar after 5th day of incubation. It
was also found that the concentration of protein also increases in
culture medium in relation to sugar concentrations (Fig. 5). After
5th day of incubation the protein concentration in case of VBAM1
reached a maximum of 151.86 lg/ml. The increase of the amount
of reducing sugar indicates the pectinase enzyme production by
the isolated pathogens. The increase of protein concentrations also
supports the results. The amount of pectinase produced by the
strain is significant enough to be a potent pathogen.
During antifungal studies it was found that isolated pathogens