Coordinator: Prof. Abdullah Al-Sadi / College of Agricultural & Marine Sciences  

Abstract:

Oman is located in the South-Eastern part of the Arabian Peninsula.  It shows diversity in terms of climatic conditions and cultivated crops.  Several plant pathogenic fungi, prokaryotes and viruses are common in different parts of the country and cause serious diseases.  Witches’ broom disease of lime (WBDL), which is caused by Candidatus Phytoplasma aurantifolia, is the most serious disease of acid lime in Oman.  The disease killed over a million lime trees in Oman and it is threatening lime production in other parts of the world.  Plant pathogenic fungi cause considerable losses in several vegetable and fruit crops.  Pythium spp. have been found to result in 75-100% mortality in some crops, while Ceratocystis species killed over 200,000 mango trees in Oman.  

Our group has been working over the past few years on characterizing major plant diseases, genetic analysis of the causal agents, characterizing mechanisms of diseases, studying pathogen-vector relationships, and investigating disease management using biological control, cultural practices and disease resistance.  We intend to continue addressing diseases affecting crops in Oman through collaborative and interdisciplinary research.