10.57647/JRS.2026.1602.16

Fungal Community Associated With Two Declining Rangeland Plants (Haloxylon Ammodendron and Astragalus Verus) in Iran

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  • Mehrdad Alizadeh1,
  • Seyedeh Masoomeh Zamani*1,
  • Naser Safaie2,
  • Soheila Mirzaei3,
  • Samira Farahani1,
  • Mohammad Ebrahim Farashiani1,
  • Alireza Rajabi Mazhar4,
  • Behmaram Bahrami Rashid5,
  1. Research Institute of Forests and Rangeland, Agricultural Research, Education and Extension Organization (AREEO), Tehran, Iran
  2. Department of Plant Pathology, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran
  3. Bu-Ali Sina University, Hamadan, Iran
  4. Hamadan Agricultural and Natural Resources Research Center, Agriculture Research, Education and Extension Organization (AREEO), Hamadan, Iran
  5. Department of Natural Resources and Watershed Management of Alborz Province, Alborz, Iran

Received: 2024-09-28

Revised: 2024-08-09

Accepted: 2024-08-09

Published in Issue 2026-06-30

Copyright (c) 2026 Mehrdad Alizadeh, Seyedeh Masoomeh Zamani, Naser Safaie, Soheila Mirzaei, Samira Farahani, Mohammad Ebrahim Farashiani, Alireza Rajabi Mazhar, Behmaram Bahrami Rashid (Author)

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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

How to Cite

Alizadeh, M., Zamani, S. M., Safaie, N., Mirzaei, S., Farahani, S., Farashiani, M. E., Rajabi Mazhar, A., & Bahrami Rashid, B. (2026). Fungal Community Associated With Two Declining Rangeland Plants (Haloxylon Ammodendron and Astragalus Verus) in Iran. Journal of Rangeland Science, 16(2). https://doi.org/10.57647/JRS.2026.1602.16
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Abstract

Drylands are specific habitats for the growth of xerophyte plants. These lands are vulnerable to numerous threats, and all biotic and abiotic stresses can play essential roles. In 2022, declining symptoms were observed for Haloxylon ammodendron and Astragalus verus in the Alborz, Tehran, and Hamedan provinces. Therefore, this study aimed to characterize fungal communities associated with the decline of H. ammodendron and A. verus in drylands using ITS sequencing. Symptomatic plants were sampled and cultured on PDA media. After fungal purification, DNA extraction was performed, and the DNA in the ITS region was sequenced. The fungal genera identified in this study included Alternaria, Arthrinium, Astragalicola, Biscogniauxia, Chaetomium, Cytospora, Fusarium, Mucor, Neoscytalidium, Paecilomyces, Pithomyces, Preussia, Sordaria, and an undefined genus. Eleven identified genera of fungi were associated with H. ammodendron in dry areas of Tehran and Alborz provinces, while 10 genera were associated with A. verus plants in Hamadan province. The mycobiota profile showed a high relative frequency of fungal genera belonging to the Paecilomyces and Biscogniauxia genera in

H. ammodendron plants and the Astragalicola and Chaetomium genera in A. verus plants. Additionally, seven genera of fungi were common to both hosts, while none of the seven other genera were shared by both hosts. Based on these results, Ascomycota comprised a large part of the mycobiota, and a minor part of the mycobiota belonged to Mucoromycota (only in A. verus plants). Our findings confirmed that the presence of the most important pathogenic genera of fungi in H. ammodendron and A. verus plants could be a threat to other dryland plants. This information can be valuable for conservation efforts and developing strategies to mitigate the threats posed by these pathogenic fungi to dryland ecosystems.

Keywords

  • Drylands,
  • Decline,
  • Haloxylon ammodendron,
  • Astragalus verus,
  • Mycobiota
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