| dc.description.abstract | Aquilaria microcarpa is native to Indonesia and has been identified and promoted as potential tree species to yield high quality agarwood (gaharu). Individual trees of this species, both in its natural habitat and plantation, do not always yield agarwood due to many influencing factors. It is estimated that only 10% trees would be able to yield the resin. A clear mechanism of agarwood formation is unknown and there is a lack of information on underlying causes and triggers of the formation due to natural complexity and uncertainty. However, natural defense mechanisms through a series of pathogenesis are presumed as naturally observed in other resin producing tree species. Research on the characterization of host-pathogen interaction in gaharu formation was carried out based on the above mentioned problems with the following specific objectives, namely: i). to identify morphological characters of A. microcarpa trees interacting with F. solani sp, ii). to determine wood anatomical characters of A. microcarpa interacting with F. solani, and iii) to verify the genotypes of A. microcarpa seedlings and trees interacting with F.solani based on microsatellites. Results on tree morphological analysis showed that two out of 17 morphological characters (descriptor), namely tree height (m) and branching angles (0), showed significant differences between inoculated and non-inoculated individuals. In addition, microscopic observations on wood anatomical characters of A. microcarpa revealed that inoculated plants clearly deposited golden-brown colored resin in pores and canticles with a distinct scent. Further verification using GC MS on the sediment deposits identified common compounds as reported in many previous research on agarwood, namely: baimuxinal, elemol, 3-phenyl-2-butanone and chromone-3-one. On the other hand, tests on the viulence degrees of F. solani showed that one out of 4 strains, i.e. F.solani FORDA 512, showed the highest level of virulence and was significantly different with other F.solani, especially if inoculated on seedlings A60, A68 and B30. Two microsatellite loci of A. crassna, i.e. 6Pa18 and 71Pa17, were successfully transferable to A. microcarpa and could be used to characterize the genotypes of Fusarium-treated seedlings (n=40), inoculated trees (n=20) and non-inoculated trees (n=20). There were differences in terms of genetic structures between tree population and seedling population. Further sequence analysis on the microsatellite fragments on the most virulent F.solani FORDA 512- inoculated seedlings indicated genotype dependant responses for both seedling and tree stages. In addition, Sequence based cladogram showed that inoculated seedlings were closely placed with inoculated trees indicating certain genetic roles in the agarwood formation. In conclusion, tree morphological (i.e. height growth and branch habit) as well as genetic and genomic characters were clearly observed and useful to provide early information on gaharu formation. It is also supported by the wood anatomy analysis showing the presence of gaharu resin. | en |
