scholarly journals First Report of Golovinomyces sonchicola Causing Powdery Mildew on Sonchus oleraceus in Mexico

Plant Disease ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hugo Beltrán-Peña ◽  
Alma Rosa Solano-Báez ◽  
Ruben Felix-Gastelum ◽  
Kamila C. Correia ◽  
Moises Camacho-Tapia ◽  
...  

Sonchus oleraceus, common sow thistle, is native to Europe, Northern Africa, and Western Asia. This plant has become a common weed throughout the world. In Mexico, this weed has become widely naturalized by replacing indigenous plants and invading many agricultural areas. During the spring of 2018 and 2019, common sow thistle plants showing typical symptoms and signs of powdery mildew, were collected from agricultural fields in Ahome, Sinaloa, Mexico. As much as 30% of plants were diseased and 60 to 95% of the foliage was affected. Mycelium was conspicuous and white-gray, and on stems and both surfaces of leaves. Appressoria were nipple-shaped to crenulate. Conidiophores (n= 30) were hyaline, cylindrical, erect, and up to 150 μm long. Foot-cells (n= 30) were distinctly curved, 47 to 75 × 10 to 13 μm, slightly constricted, followed by 1–3 shorter cells and formed conidia in chains. Conidia (n= 100) were ellipsoid to doliiform to subcylindrical, 28 to 37 × 14 to 19 μm, lacked fibrosin bodies, and germinated from the apex. Chasmothecia were not observed. The morphological characters were consistent with those of the anamorphic state of Golovinomyces sonchicola (Braun and Cook 2012, Jakše et al. 2019). A voucher specimen (accession no. FAVF215) was deposited in the Herbarium of the Faculty of Agriculture of El Fuerte Valley at the Autonomous University of Sinaloa (Juan Jose Rios, Sinaloa, Mexico). To confirm the morphological identification, genomic DNA was extracted from mycelium and conidia, and the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region and part of the 28S gene were amplified by PCR and sequenced. The ITS region of rDNA was amplified using the primers ITS5/ITS4 (White et al. 1990). For amplification of the 28S rRNA partial gene, a nested PCR was performed using the primer sets PM3 (Takamatsu and Kano 2001)/TW14 (Mori et al. 2000) and NL1/TW14 (Mori et al. 2000) for the first and second reactions, respectively. Phylogenetic analyses using the maximum parsimony and maximum likelihood methods (Braun et al. 2019), including ITS and 28S sequences of isolates of Golovinomyces spp. were performed and confirmed the results obtained from the morphological analysis. Isolate FAVF215 grouped in a clade with the other isolates of G. sonchicola. The ITS and 28S sequences were deposited in GenBank under accession numbers MW425872 and MW442972, respectively. Pathogenicity was demonstrated by gently dusting conidia from infected leaves onto leaves of 20 healthy plants and covered with plastic bags for 24 h. Ten non-inoculated plants served as controls. All plants were maintained in a greenhouse at 25 to 35ºC. All inoculated plants developed similar symptoms to those observed in the field from natural infections after 12 days, whereas powdery mildew symptoms and signs were not observed on control plants. The morphology asexual structures of fungus on inoculated plants were identical to those on naturally infected plants, fulfilling Koch’s postulates. Inoculation tests were repeated twice with identical results. Based on the morphological data and phylogenetic analysis, the fungus was identified as G. sonchicola. This fungus has been reported causing powdery mildew on S. oleraceus in Germany, The Netherlands, Slovenia, and The United Kingdom (Farr and Rossman 2021). To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of G. sonchicola causing powdery mildew on S. oleraceus in Mexico. This powdery mildew pathogen may represent an option for the biological control of common sow thistle.

Plant Disease ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
José Francisco Díaz-Nájera ◽  
Sergio Ayvar-Serna ◽  
Antonio Mena-Bahena ◽  
Guadalupe Arlene Mora-Romero ◽  
Karla Yeriana Leyva-Madrigal ◽  
...  

Cucurbita argyrosperma, commonly named as winter or cushaw squash, is highly sought for its seeds, which have important uses in culinary arts. During the autumn 2021, powdery mildew-like signs and symptoms were observed on cushaw squash in several commercial fields located in Cocula, Guerrero, Mexico. Signs were initially appeared as whitish powdery patches on both sides of leaves and then covering entire leaves and causing premature senescence. The disease incidence was estimated to be 80% in about 1000 plants in two fields. The mycelium was amphigenous, persistent, white in color, and occurred in dense patches. A voucher specimen was deposited in the Herbarium of the Colegio Superior Agropecuario del Estado de Guerrero under the accession number CSAEG22. For the morphological characterization by light microscopy, fungal structures were mounted in a drop of lactic acid on a glass slide. Microscopic examination showed nipple-shaped hyphal appressoria. Conidiophores (n = 30) were straight, 100 to 190 × 10 to 12 μm and produced 2 to 6 conidia in chains. Foot-cells were cylindrical, 41 to 78 μm long, followed by 1 to 2 shorter cells. Conidia (n = 100) were ellipsoid-ovoid to barrel-shaped, 29.5 to 39.1 × 19.4 to 22.7 μm, and contained conspicuous fibrosin bodies. Germ tubes were produced from a lateral position on conidia. Chasmothecia were not observed during the growing season. The morphological characters were consistent with those of the anamorphic state of Podosphaera xanthii (Braun and Cook 2012). For further confirmation, total DNA was extracted from conidia and mycelia following the CTAB method (Doyle and Doyle 1990), and the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region and part of the 28S gene were amplified by PCR, and sequenced. The ITS region of rDNA was amplified using the primers ITS5/ITS4 (White et al. 1990). For amplification of the 28S rRNA partial gene, a nested PCR was performed using the primer sets PM3 (Takamatsu and Kano 2001)/TW14 (Mori et al. 2000) and NL1/TW14 (Mori et al. 2000) for the first and second reactions, respectively. Phylogenetic analyses using the Maximum Likelihood method, including ITS and 28S sequences of isolates of Podosphaera spp. were performed and confirmed the results obtained in the morphological analysis. The isolate CSAEG22 grouped in a clade with isolates of Podosphaera xanthii. The ITS and 28S sequences were deposited in GenBank under accession numbers OL423329 and OL423343, respectively. Pathogenicity was confirmed by gently dusting conidia from infected leaves onto ten leaves of healthy C. argyrosperma plants. Five non-inoculated leaves served as controls. The plants were maintained in a greenhouse at 25 to 35 ºC, and relative humidity of 60 to 70%. All inoculated leaves developed similar signs to the original observation after 10 days, whereas control leaves remained symptomless. Microscopic examination of the fungus on inoculated leaves showed that it was morphologically identical to that originally observed on diseased plants, fulfilling Koch’s postulates. Podosphaera xanthii has been previously reported on C. maxima, C. moschata, and C. pepo in Mexico (Yañez-Morales et al. 2009; Farr and Rossman 2021). To our knowledge, this is the first report of P. xanthii causing powdery mildew on C. argyrosperma in Mexico. This pathogen is a serious threat to C. argyrosperma production in Mexico and disease management strategies should be developed.


Plant Disease ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 97 (3) ◽  
pp. 427-427 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. B. Lee

Curled dock (Rumex crispus L.) is a perennial flowering plant in family Polygonaceae, native to Europe and western Asia. Curled dock is a widespread naturalized species throughout the temperate world that has become a serious invasive species as a weed in many areas. In contrast, the plant has been widely used as a folk medicine for treatment of indigestion and dermatoses in Asia countries. The plant roots are known to have an antifungal effect against barley powdery mildew pathogens. In late October 2010 to 2011, plants showing typical symptoms of powdery mildew disease were observed in a river bank area located in Gwangju, South Korea. Symptoms included generally white, superficial mycelia and abundant necrotic black spots showing superficial chasmothecia. Mycelia were ectophytic with lobed appressoria. Conidiophores were cylindrical, straight, or slightly flexuous in foot cells and bore single conidia. The foot cell of the fungus had a greater range of size than Erysiphe polygoni. Conidia and conidiophores were 25.4 to 45.4 (36.5) μm long × 10.5 to 18.6 (15.0) μm wide and 34.7 to 126.0 (91.4) μm long × 8 to 10 (8.7) μm wide, respectively. The teleomorph included spherical to subspherical ascocarps that were (blackish) brown to yellow and formed hyphoid appendages. Appendages were slightly flexuous and 62.0 to 128.1 (71.6) μm wide. Mature chasmothecia were 75.1 to 140.9 (105) μm. The ascocarps contained multiple asci that were saccate, ellipsoidal and papillate in apices, bore 3 to 5 ascospores, and were 59.4 to 66.1 (60.9) μm long × 32.6 to 43.9 (38.3) μm wide. Ascospores were subhyaline, oval to ellipsoid, and 17.9 to 24.8 (21.1) μm long × 10.9 to 15.2 (13.3) μm wide. From extracted genomic DNA, the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region inclusive of 5.8S and 28S rDNA were amplified with ITS1F (5′-TCCGTAGGTGAACCTGCGG-3′) and LR5F (5′-GCTATCCTGAGGGAAAC-3′), and LROR (5′-ACCCGCTGAACTTAAGC-3′) and LR5F primer sets, respectively. rDNA ITS (JX499184) and 28S (JX888470) homologies of the fungal strain (EML-RCPW1) via NCBI BLASTn search represented 99.7% (618/620) and 100% (667/667) identity values with E. heraclei AB104510 and AB103366, respectively. The identification of the fungus as E. heraclei was based on morphological data combined with the results of sequence analysis. Although there were no 28S sequence data from E. polygoni in GenBank, the phylogenetic tree based on ITS sequence data showed that our strain was differentiated from E. polygoni, forming a separate clade consisting of E. heraclei. So far, 26 records with respect to powdery mildews on curled dock represent those caused by only E. polygoni worldwide (1). E. heraclei has been reported to occur on various herbaceous plants including Angelica spp., Daucus spp., and Torilis japonica, and a woody plant such as Quercus myrsinaefolia in China, Japan, and Korea. To our knowledge, this is the first report of leaf powdery mildew caused by E. heraclei on curled dock in Korea or elsewhere in the world, although the fungus causes powdery mildew on various species of families Polygonaceae and Apiaceae with wide host range (2,3,4). References: (1) D. F. Farr and A. Y. Rossman. Fungal Databases, Syst. Mycol. Microbiol. Lab., ARS, USDA. Retrieved from http://nt.ars-grin.gov/fungaldatabases/ , June 22, 2012. (2) D. A. Glawe et al. Online. Plant Health Progress. PHP-2005-0114-01-HN, 2005. (3) M. J. Park et al. New Dis. Rep. 21:14, 2010. (4) G. Rodríguez-Alvarado et al. Plant Dis. 94:483, 2010.


Plant Disease ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jorge Cadena-Iñiguez ◽  
Gildardo Olguín-Hernández ◽  
Moises Camacho-Tapia ◽  
Kamila C. Correia ◽  
Alma Rosa Solano-Báez ◽  
...  

From 2018 to 2020, powdery mildew-like signs and symptoms were observed on chayote (Sechium edule var. virens levis) in a commercial field located in Santa María del Río, San Luis Potosí, Mexico. Signs appeared as whitish powdery masses on both sides of leaves and stems. Disease incidence was about 30% and signs covered up to 70% of leaf surface. Ten samples were collected and analyzed. Mycelium was amphigenous, persistent, white, in dense patches. Hyphal appressoria were lobed and solitary. Conidiophores (n = 30) were hyaline, erect, straight, and 62 to 101 μm long. Foot cells were cylindrical and straight, followed by 1–3 shorter cells, and forming conidia in short chains. Conidia (n = 100) were hyaline, surface striate, cylindrical-ellipsoid, doliiform or ovoid, 25.7 to 37.6 × 11.9 to 18.4 μm, without fibrosin bodies, and with germ tubes terminal or subterminal. Conidial appressoria were lobed. Chasmothecia were not observed. The morphological characters were consistent with those of the anamorphic state of Neoerysiphe sechii (Gregorio-Cipriano et al. 2020). A voucher specimen was deposited in the Herbarium of the Department of Agricultural Parasitology at the Chapingo Autonomous University under accession number UACH192. To confirm the identification of the fungus, genomic DNA was extracted from conidia and mycelium, and the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region and part of the 28S gene were amplified by PCR and sequenced. The ITS region of rDNA was amplified using the primers ITS5/ITS4 (White et al. 1990). For amplification of the 28S rRNA partial gene, a nested PCR was performed using the primer sets PM3 (Takamatsu and Kano 2001)/TW14 (Mori et al. 2000) and NL1/TW14 (Mori et al. 2000) for the first and second reactions, respectively. Phylogenetic analyses using the maximum parsimony and maximum likelihood methods, including ITS and 28S sequences of isolates of Neoerysiphe spp. were performed and confirmed the results obtained in the morphological analysis. The isolate UACH192 grouped in a clade with isolates of N. sechii. The ITS + 28S sequence was deposited in GenBank under accession number MZ468642. Pathogenicity was confirmed by gently dusting conidia from infected leaves onto ten leaves of healthy chayote plants. Five non-inoculated leaves served as controls. The plants were maintained in a greenhouse at 25 to 30 ºC, and relative humidity of 60 to 70%. All inoculated leaves developed similar symptoms to the original observation after 8 days, whereas control leaves remained disease free. Microscopic examination of the fungus on inoculated leaves showed that it was morphologically identical to that originally observed. The pathogenicity test was repeated twice with similar results. Based on morphological data and phylogenetic analysis, as well as pathogenicity test, the fungus was identified as N. sechii. This pathogen has been previously reported causing powdery mildew on S. edule and S. mexicanum in Veracruz, Mexico (Gregorio-Cipriano et al. 2020). However, to our knowledge, this is the first report of N. sechii causing powdery mildew on chayote in San Luis Potosí (Central Mexico). This pathogen represents a serious threat to chayote production and disease management strategies should be developed.


Plant Disease ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 99 (2) ◽  
pp. 289-289 ◽  
Author(s):  
L.-C. Bai ◽  
Z.-M. Cao ◽  
P.-Q. Li ◽  
C. Liang

Prunus hypoleuca (≡ Maddenia hypoleuca), a native plant in China, grows in the Qinling Mountains that lie at the intersection of several forest regions in north, central, and southwest China. In October 2013, P. hypoleuca suffering from heavy powdery mildew infections was found with approximately 75% of the plants affected. The powdery mildew at first appeared as circular to irregular white patches, which subsequently showed abundant hyphal growth on both sides of leaves, leading to the withering of the leaves. A voucher specimen was maintained in the Mycological Herbarium of Northwest A & F University (Accession No. HMNWAFU-CF 2013166). Hyphal appressoria were nipple-shaped or nearly absent. Conidiophores were cylindrical, measured 83 to 110 × 10 to 12.5 μm, and produced two to five immature conidia in chains with a crenate outline. Foot-cells of conidiophores were straight, cylindrical, and 28 to 62 × 7 to 10 μm. Conidia were hyaline, ellipsoid to ovate, and measured 20 to 32 × 14 to 21 μm (length/width ratio 1.4:1.8). Chasmothecia were scattered or gregarious, depressed globose, and 65 to 112 μm in diameter. Appendages, arising from the upper half of the chasmothecia, usually had two to four dichotomous branches, and were one to three and a half times as long as the chasmothecial diameter. A single ascus in a chasmothecium was subglobose or broadly ellipsoid-ovoid, measured 66 to 86 × 47 to 76 μm and contained six to eight ascospores. The ascospores were ellipsoid-ovoid and 15 to 27 × 12 to 18 μm. The fungus was identified as Podosphaera tridactyla based on its anamorph and teleomorph characteristics (1,2). To confirm the identification, 28S rDNA and the ITS region were amplified. The ITS5/P3 and then PM5/ITS4 primers were used to amplify the ITS region by nested PCR. The primers LSU1/LSU2 were used to amplify the 28S rDNA, and the cloned fragments were sequenced. The 28S rDNA and ITS region sequences were deposited in GenBank (Accession Nos. KJ879240 and KM213121). A GenBank BLAST search of two sequences revealed 99% identity with P. tridactyla infecting Prunus salicina Lindl. in Korea (3). Based on ITS and a 28S rDNA phylogenetic tree, the two sequences retrieved from the Chinese specimen clustered within a strongly supported clade (bootstrap value = 100%) with P. tridactyla (JQ517296 and AB022393, respectively). Cladistic trees were constructed using the neighbor-joining method with the Kimura two-parameter substitution model in MEGA 5.0. Branch robustness was assessed via bootstrap analysis with 1,000 replicates. Phylogenetic analysis data were in agreement with morphological characters (3). To our knowledge, this is the first report of powdery mildew caused by P. tridactyla on P. hypoleuca. While Koch's postulates have not been carried out because of the biotrophic nature of the pathogen, the present report serves as a novel resource in order to improve the understanding of the etiology and epidemiology of the powdery mildew (P. tridactyla) on P. hypoleuca. The occurrence of P. tridactyla, a common powdery mildew on Prunus s. lat., supports recently published results of phylogenetic analyses of the Prunus complex, indicating that Maddenia must be reduced to synonymy with Prunus (4). References: (1) U. Braun. Beih. Nova Hedwigia 89:1, 1987. (2) U. Braun and R. T. A. Cook. Taxonomic Manual of the Erysiphales (Powdery Mildews), CBS Biodiversity Series No. 11. CBS, Utrecht, Netherlands, 2012. (3) S. C. Lee et al. Res. Plant Dis. 18:49, 2012. (4) J. Wen and W. T. Shi. PhytoKeys 17(2):39, 2012.


Plant Disease ◽  
2009 ◽  
Vol 93 (12) ◽  
pp. 1348-1348
Author(s):  
H. B. Lee ◽  
C. J. Kim ◽  
H. Y. Mun ◽  
J. P. Hong ◽  
D. A. Glawe

Trident maple (Acer buergerianum Miq.) is widely grown in Korea as an ornamental tree as well as for the art of bonsai. During 2008 and 2009, a powdery mildew was observed on trident maple plants at the campus of Chonnam National University, Gwangju, Korea. Further surveys revealed the disease to be widespread on this species in other areas including Jeonbuk and Chungnam provinces in Korea. White, superficial mycelia were observed on young shoots and leaves early in spring. Both macroconidia and microconidia were produced beginning in May and conidial production continued through the summer into September and October. Production of chasmothecia was observed starting in September and continued into October. Macroconidia were produced in chains that were sinuate in outline. Individual macroconidia were barrel shaped and 23.4 to 30.0 (26.6) × 15.6 to 21.1 (18.1) μm. Foot cells of macroconidial conidiophores were 26.7 to 110.7 (48) × 7.1 to 11.2 (8.8) μm with one to five following cells. Microconidia were broadly ellipsoidal to subglobose and 8.9 to 12.5 (10.5) × 4.3 to 5.8 (5.1) μm. Chasmothecia typically were formed on adaxial leaf surfaces and 193.2 to 238.1 (216.8) μm in diameter. Appendages bore uncinate to circinate apices and were 176.8 to 267.7 (211.5) × 4.3 to 8.0 (6.2) μm. From extracted genomic DNA, internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region inclusive of 5.8S rDNA was amplified with ITS1F (5′-CTTGGTCATTTAGAGGAAGT-3′) and LR5F (5′-GCTATCCTGAGGGAAAC-3′) primers. The causal fungus was determined to be Sawadaea nankinensis (F.L. Tai) S. Takam. & U. Braun (2) on the basis of morphological data and ITS rDNA sequences. A BLAST search of GenBank with an ITS sequence from this fungus determined that the five sequences exhibiting the highest max score values (1,811 to 2,004) were from S. nankinensis; these sequences produced max ident values from 94% to 99%. In contrast, max score and max ident values from sequences of other Sawadaea spp. were lower, including scores of 1,063 and 98% similarity for S. polyfida var. japonica, 915 and 97% for S. tulasnei, and 913 and 97% for S. bicornis. Pathogenicity tests were conducted on field-grown plants in two replicates. These plants were inoculated with a paintbrush to apply conidia (~5 × 106/ml) collected from powdery-mildew-infected leaves. Inoculated plants developed powdery mildew symptoms within 5 days of inoculation and resembled those observed on naturally infected plants. S. nankinensis (synonym Uncinula nankinensis) was first reported on A. buergerianum from China in 1930 (2). Recently, S. nankinensis (F.L. Tai) S. Takam & U. Braun was reported to occur on A. buergerianum in Japan (3). Until now, three Sawadaea spp. (S. bicornis (Wallr.) Homma, S. negundinis Homma, and S. tulasnei (Fuckel) Homma) have been reported to cause powdery mildew on A. ginnala, but only S. bicornis (= U. circinata Cooke & Peck) has been reported to cause powdery mildew on A. ginnala in Korea (1). However, no Sawadaea sp. previously was reported to cause powdery mildew on A. buergerianum. To our knowledge, this is the first report of powdery mildew on trident maple (A. buergerianum) caused by S. nankinensis in Korea. References: (1) H. D. Shin. Erysiphaceae of Korea. National Institute of Agricultural Science and Technology, 2000. (2) F. L. Tai. Page 1517 in: Sylloge Fungorum Sinicorum. Science Press, Academia Sinica, Peking, 1979. (3) S. Takamatsu et al. Mycoscience 49:161, 2008.


Genetika ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 46 (2) ◽  
pp. 353-368 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ivan Milenkovic ◽  
Justyna Nowakowska ◽  
Tomasz Oszako ◽  
Katarina Mladenovic ◽  
Aleksandar Lucic ◽  
...  

The paper presents the results of the study performed with aims to determine the presence and diversity of Phytophthora species on maple trees in Serbia. Due to high aggressiveness and their multicyclic nature, presence of these pathogens is posing significant threat to forestry and biodiversity. In total, 29 samples of water, soil and tissues were taken from 10 different localities, and six different maple hosts were tested. After the isolation tests, 17 samples from five different maple hosts were positive for the presence of Phytophthora spp., and 31 isolates were obtained. After the detailed morphological and physiological classification, four distinct groups of isolates were separated. DNA was extracted from selected representative isolates and molecular identification with sequencing of ITS region was performed. Used ITS4 and ITS6 primers successfully amplified the genomic DNA of chosen isolates and morphological identification of obtained isolates was confirmed after the sequencing. Four different Phytophthora species were detected, including P. cactorum, P. gonapodyides, P. plurivora and P. lacustris. The most common isolated species was homothallic, and with very variable and semipapillate sporangia, P. plurivora with 22 obtained isolates. This is the first report of P. plurivora and P. gonapodyides on A. campestre, P. plurivora and P. lacustris on Acer heldreichii and first report of P. lacustris on A. pseudoplatanus and A. tataricum in Serbia.


2019 ◽  
Vol 101 (3) ◽  
pp. 805-805
Author(s):  
Jernej Jakše ◽  
Sebastjan Radišek ◽  
Hyeon Dong Shin

Plant Disease ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 95 (9) ◽  
pp. 1188-1188 ◽  
Author(s):  
J.-G. Tsay ◽  
R.-S. Chen ◽  
H.-L. Wang ◽  
W.-L. Wang ◽  
B.-C. Weng

Powdery mildew can be found in most papaya (Carica papaya L.) fields during the winter and spring seasons in Taiwan. It usually causes severe yellowing of the leaf lamina and petiole and serious defoliation. Three types of powdery mildew fungi were isolated from papaya leaves in Chiayi City (23.28°N, 120.28°E) at the beginning of 2008. Conidia of the first one were single, globose, hyaline, and 24 to 36 × 14 to 18 μm (average 30.2 × 15.6 μm) without fibrosin bodies and with straight or occasionally flexuous conidiophores at the base. The second one had short pseudo-chains of two to four conidia which were ellipsoidal to ovoid, hyaline, and 24 to 40 × 12 to 16 μm (average 29.7 × 13.4 μm) without fibrosin bodies. The third type had chains of ellipsoidal conidia that were hyaline, 24 to 28 × 12 to 16 μm (average 26.3 × 14.4 μm) and contained fibrosin bodies. To confirm the identity of the three fungi, the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region of rDNA was amplified using the primer pairs G1 (5′-TCC GTA GGT GAA CCT GCG GAA GGA T-3′)/Ed2 (5′-CGC GTA GAG CCC ACG TCG GA-3′), G1 (5′-TCC GTA GGT GAA CCT GCG GAA GGA T-3′)/On2 (5′-TGT GAT CCA TGT GAC TGG AA-3′), and S1 (5′-GGA TCA TTA CTG AGC GCG AGG CCC CG-3′)/S2 (5′-CGC CGC CCT GGC GCG AGA TAC A-3′). The alignment of obtained sequences (GenBank Accession Nos. GU358452, 507 bp; GU358451, 580 bp; and GU358450, 455 bp) showed a sequence identity of 100, 99, and 99% with the ITS sequences of Erysiphe diffusa, Oidium neolycopersici, and Podosphaera xanthii (GenBank Accession Nos. FJ378880, EU909694, and GQ927254), respectively. On the basis of morphological characteristics and ITS sequence similarities, these fungi were identified as E. diffusa (Cooke & Peck) U. Braun & S. Takam., O. neolycopersici L. Kiss, and P. xanthii (Castagne) U. Braun & S. Takam., respectively (1,3). Single colonies on papaya leaves infected with powdery mildew were identified in the laboratory and maintained on papaya leaves as inoculum. Pathogenicity was confirmed through inoculations by gently pressing a single colony of each fungus onto leaves of healthy papaya seedlings (cv. Horng-Fe). Five seedlings were inoculated for each fungus and then covered with plastic bags for 2 days. Five noninoculated seedlings served as control. After inoculation, treated plants were maintained separately from the control in different rooms of a greenhouse at 25°C under natural daylight conditions. Seven days after inoculation, typical symptoms of powdery mildew were observed on inoculated plants, but not on noninoculated plants. The same species from diseased lesions following artificial inoculation with each fungus were identified with light microscopy. Papaya was previously described as a host to O. caricae Noack in many tropical and subtropical areas of the world including Taiwan (2). However E. cruciferarum, Golovinomyces cichoracearum, Oidiopsis sicula, O. caricae, O. caricae-papayae, O. caricicola, O. indicum, O. papayae, Ovulariopsis papayae, P. caricae-papayae, P. macularis, P. xanthii, and Streptopodium caricae were reported to infect papaya (4). To our knowledge, this is the first report of papaya powdery mildew caused by E. diffusa and O. neolycopersici in the world and the first report of the three fungi found on papaya in Taiwan. References: (1) U. Braun and S. Takamatsu. Schlechtendalia 4:1, 2000. (2) H. S. Chien and H. L. Wang. J. Agric. Res. China 33:320, 1984. (3) L. Kiss et al. Mycol. Res. 105:684, 2001. (4) J. R. Liberato et al. Mycol. Res. 108:1185, 2004.


Plant Disease ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 95 (9) ◽  
pp. 1190-1190
Author(s):  
L. X. Zhang ◽  
J. H. Song ◽  
G. J. Tan ◽  
S. S. Li

Curcuma (family Zingiberaceae) is commonly cultivated for the use of rhizomes within traditional Chinese medicines. In October 2009 and 2010, severe leaf blight was observed on Curcuma wenyujin Y.H. Chen & C. Ling (4) in fields located in Ruian, China. The area of cultivation in Ruian encompasses 90% of the production in Zhejiang Province. Disease incidence was approximately 90% of plants observed in affected fields. Early symptoms were yellow-to-brown, irregular-shaped lesions on the leaf margin or tip. After several days, lesions expanded along the mid-vein until the entire leaf was destroyed. Blighted leaves turned grayish to dark brown and withered, and severely affected plants died. Eight fungal isolates were recovered from symptomatic C. wenyujin leaves, collected from eight different fields, on potato dextrose agar (PDA). These fungal colonies were initially white, becoming light to dark gray and produced black, spherical to subspherical, single-celled conidia (14 to 17 × 12 to 15 μm), which were borne on a hyaline vesicle at the tip of the conidiophores. On the basis of these morphological features, the isolates appeared to be similar to Nigrospora sphaerica (2). Strain ZJW-1 was selected as a representative for molecular identification. Genomic DNA was extracted from the isolate, and the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region of the ribosomal DNA (ITS1-5.8S-ITS2) was amplified using ITS1 (5′-TCCGTAGGTGAACCTGCGG-3′) and ITS4 (5′-TCCTCCGCTTATTGATATGC-3′) primers (3). The ITS region was further cloned and sequenced (GenBank Accession No. JF738028) and was 99% identical to N. sphaerica (GenBank Accession No. FJ478134.1). On the basis of morphological data and the ITS rDNA sequence, the isolate was determined to be N. sphaerica. Pathogenicity tests were conducted on four leaves of four C. wenyujin plants by placing agar pieces (5 mm in diameter) from 8-day-old cultures on pushpin-wounded leaves. An equal number of control plants were wounded and inoculated with noncolonized PDA agar pieces. Plants were placed in moist chambers at 25°C with a 12-h photoperiod. Brown-to-black lesions were observed on wounded leaves after 3 days and expanded to an average of 56 × 40 mm 15 days after inoculation. No symptoms developed on the control leaves. The pathogen was reisolated from the margins of necrotic tissues but not from the controls. The pathogen has been reported as a leaf pathogen on several hosts worldwide (1). To our knowledge, this is the first report of N. sphaerica as a leaf pathogen of C. wenyujin in China. Future research will focus primarily on management of this disease. References: (1) D. F. Farr and A. Y. Rossman. Fungal Databases, Systematic Mycology and Microbiology Laboratory, USDA-ARS, Retrieved from http://nt.ars-grin.gov/fungaldatabases/ , March 31, 2011. (2) E. W. Mason. Trans. Brit. Mycol. Soc. 12:152, 1927. (3) T. J. White et al. PCR Protocols: A Guide to Methods and Applications. Academic Press, San Diego, 1990. (4) J. Zhao et al. Molecules 15:7547, 2010.


Plant Disease ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 96 (9) ◽  
pp. 1376-1376 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. J. Park ◽  
S. E. Cho ◽  
M. Piątek ◽  
H. D. Shin

Macleaya microcarpa (Maxim.) Fedde, also known as smallfruit plume poppy, is a perennial herb belonging to the family Papaveraceae. The plant, together with the better-known species M. cordata (Willd.) R. Br., is native to central China and is now planted worldwide for medicinal purposes. In October 2008 and August 2009, dozens of smallfruit plume poppy planted in the Kraków Botanical Garden, Poland, were found to be severely infected with a powdery mildew. White colonies with abundant sporulation developed on both sides of leaves and young stems, forming circular to irregular patches. Infections caused leaf yellowing and premature defoliation. The damage has been observed every year since 2009. Representative voucher specimens were deposited in the fungal herbarium of the W. Szafer Institute of Botany of the Polish Academy of Sciences (KRAM) and the Korea University herbarium (KUS). Appressoria on the mycelia were lobed, often in pairs. Conidiophores composed of three to four cells arose from the upper part of creeping hyphae, 65 to 120 × 7 to 10 μm, attenuated toward the base, sub-straight or slightly flexuous in foot-cells, and produced conidia singly. Conidia were hyaline, oblong-elliptical to doliiform, 25 to 38 × 12 to 18 μm with a length/width ratio of 1.8 to 2.6; lacked fibrosin bodies; and produced germ tubes on the subterminal position with club-shaped or lobed appressoria. The conidial surface was wrinkled to irregularly reticulate. No chasmothecia were found. The structures described above match well with the anamorph of Erysiphe macleayae R.Y. Zheng & G.Q. Chen (3). To confirm the identity of the causal fungus, the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region of rDNA from KUS-F24459 was amplified using primers ITS5 and P3 (4) and directly sequenced. The resulting sequence of 553 bp was deposited in GenBank (Accession No. JQ681217). A GenBank BLAST search using the present data revealed >99% sequence similarity of the isolate with E. macleayae on M. cordata from Japan (AB016048). Pathogenicity was confirmed through inoculation by gently pressing diseased leaves onto leaves of three healthy potted plants. Three noninoculated plants served as controls. Plants were maintained in a greenhouse at 25°C. Inoculated plants developed signs and symptoms after 7 days, whereas the control plants remained healthy. The fungus present on the inoculated plants was morphologically identical to that originally observed on diseased plants. The powdery mildew infections of M. cordata associated with E. macleayae have been recorded in China and Japan (2), and more recently in Germany (1,3). To our knowledge, this is the first report of E. macleayae on M. microcarpa globally as well as in Poland. This mildew species was described in China and is endemic to Asia, where chasmothecia of the fungus were found. Only recently have powdery mildews been found on M. cordata in Germany (1,3) and now on M. microcarpa in Poland, indicating the fungus is spreading in Europe. References: (1) N. Ale-Agha et al. Schlechtendalia 17:39, 2008. (2) D. F. Farr and A. Y. Rossman. Fungal Databases, Systematic Mycology and Microbiology Laboratory, ARS, USDA. Retrieved from http://nt.ars-grin.gov/fungaldatabases/ , February 7, 2012. (3) A. Schmidt and M. Scholler. Mycotaxon 115:287, 2011. (4) S. Takamatsu et al. Mycol. Res. 113:117, 2009.


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