scholarly journals First Report of Powdery Mildew Caused by Podosphaera xanthii on Cuphea hyssopifolia (Lythraceae) in Mainland China

Plant Disease ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Irum Mukhtar ◽  
Ruiting Li ◽  
IBATSAM KHOKHAR ◽  
Ruanni Chen ◽  
Yunying Cheng ◽  
...  

Cuphea hyssopifolia (Mexican heather) is a popular evergreen perennial shrub used for ornamental and medicinal purposes. Due to its high ornamental value, it is often used as a ground cover in parks and gardens in China. During February and March 2019 & 2020, powdery mildew was observed on C. hyssopifolia in the districts of Minhou and Jinshan of Fuzhou, China. Disease incidence was 70% but of low severity with only a few older leaves showing yellowing and wilting. Sparse irregular patches of white superficial powdery mildew observed on both sides of mature and young leaves. The powdery mildew fungal appressoria that occurred on epigenous hyphae, were indistinct to nipple-shaped, hyaline, and smooth. Conidiophores were erect, smooth, 80 to 210 × 10 to 12 µm, and produced two to eight crenate-shaped conidia in chains. Foot-cells of conidiophores were straight, cylindric, and 30 to 65 × 10 to12 µm. Conidia were hyaline, smooth, ellipsoid-ovoid to barrel-shaped, 25 to 38 × 16 to 20 µm with distinct fibrosin bodies. Germ tubes were simple to forked and produced from the lateral position of the germinating conidia. No chasmothecia were observed on the surface of infected leaves. Based on the morphology of the imperfect state, the powdery mildew fungus was identified as Podosphaera xanthii (Castagne) U. Braun & N. Shishkoff (Braun and Cook 2012). To confirm fungal identification, total DNA was extracted (Mukhtar et al., 2018) directly from epiphytic mycelia on infected leaves collected from both districts. Internal transcribed spacer (ITS) regions and the partial large subunit (LSU) rDNA were amplified using primers ITS1/ITS4 and LSU1/LSU2 (Scholin et al. 1994, White et al. 1990), respectively. The sequences were deposited in GenBank (ITS: MW692364, MW692365; LSU: MW699924, MW699925). The ITS and LSU sequences were 99 to 100 % identical to those of P. xanthii in GenBank, (ITS: MT568609, MT472035, MT250855, and AB462800; LSU: AB936276, JX896687, AB936277, and AB936274). Koch’s postulates were completed by gently pressing diseased leaves onto leaves of five healthy potted C. hyssopifolia plants that were held in a greenhouse at 24 to 30°C without humidity control. Five non-inoculated plants served as controls. Inoculated plants developed symptoms after 6 to 10 days, whereas the controls remained symptomless. The morphology of the fungus on the inoculated leaves was identical to that observed on the originally diseased leaves. Previously, Podosphaera sp. has been reported on C. rosea in the United Kingdom (Beales & Cook 2008) and P. xanthii on C. hyssopifolia in Taiwan (Yeh et al. 2021). To our knowledge, this is the first report of powdery mildew caused by P. xanthii on C. hyssopifolia in mainland China. Our field observations suggest that the P. xanthii infections would be a potential threat to the health of C. hyssopifolia in China. References: Beales, P. A., and Cook, R. T. A. 2008. Plant Pathol. 57:778. Braun, U., Cook, R. T. A. 2012. The Taxonomic Manual of the Erysiphales (Powdery Mildews). CBS Biodiversity Series 11: CBS. Utrecht, The Netherlands. Mukhtar, I., et al. 2018. Sydowia.70:155. Scholin, C. A., et al. 1994. J. Phycol. 30:999. White, T. J., et al. 1990. Page 315 in: PCR Protocols: A Guide to Methods and Applications. Academic Press, San Diego, CA. Yeh, Y. W., et al. 2021. Trop. Plant Pathol. 46:44.

Plant Disease ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
In-Young Choi ◽  
Ho-Jong Ju ◽  
Kui-Jae Lee ◽  
Hyeon-Dong Shin

Salvia farinacea Benth. (Lamiaceae) is an herbaceous perennial plant, native to Mexico and southern parts of the United States. This plant is cultivated worldwide for its ornamental value. In November 2019, hundreds of S. farinacea ‘Blue Bedder” grown in a flower garden in Jeju (33°30'57"N 126°32'50"E), Korea have been found to be infected with a powdery mildew fungus. The disease severity was estimated to be 100%. Likewise in October 2020, a similar situation with this plant was also observed in a flower garden in Seoul (37°35'19"N 127°01'07"E), Korea. Leaves, stems and inflorescence of plants were covered by white, thin mycelial felt, bearing an abundance of conidiophores and conidia. Eventually, infected plants lose their ornamental value. Two voucher specimens have been deposited in the Korea University Herbarium (KUS-F31478 and F32164). Fresh materials were examined. Hyphal appressoria were nipple-shaped, but rarely found. Conidiophores (n = 30) were straight, 95 to 160 × 10 to 12 μm and produced 2 to 7 immature conidia in chains with a crenate outline. Foot-cells were cylindric and 36 to 60 μm long. Conidia (n = 30) were ellipsoid-ovoid to barrel-shaped, 32 to 38 × 18 to 24 μm, and contained conspicuous fibrosin bodies. Dark brown chasmothecia were found partly embedded in the mycelial felt on leaves, mostly hypophyllous, spherical, and 82 to 100 µm diameter, with a single ascus in each. Appendages were few, mycelioid, 1- to 4-septate, brown near the base when mature, but paler above. Asci were broadly ellipsoid to subglobose, 56 to 68 × 50 to 62 μm, sessile and 8-spored. Ascospores were colorless, oval to subglobose, and 14 to 18 × 12 to 15 µm. These characteristics were consistent with those of Podosphaera xanthii (Castagne) U. Braun & Shishkoff (Braun and Cook 2012). For further confirmation, genomic DNA was extracted from chasmothecia from KUS-F31478 and F32164. PCR amplification was performed using the primer pair ITS1F/PM6 for internal transcribed spacer (ITS) and PM3/TW14 for the large subunit (LSU) of the rDNA (Takamatsu and Kano 2001). Obtained sequences were deposited to the GenBank under the accession numbers MZ359847 and MZ359859 for ITS, MZ359858 and MZ359861 for LSU. For ITS regions 99.80-100% similarity was found with sequences MT131256 (Salvia farinacea), MT131254 (Mazus pumilus) and MT131252 (Erigeron bellioides) of P. xanthii, whereas it was 99.90% with sequences of this fungus on Echinacea purpurea (MT826247 and MT826245) for 28S rDNA gene. Pathogenicity tests were carried out by touching an infected leaf onto healthy leaves of disease-free 30 days old potted ‘Blue Bedder’ using replication of five plants, with five non-inoculated plants used as controls. The typical signs of powdery mildew started to develop on the inoculated leaves in 7 to 10 days, and microscopic examination revealed the morphological identity with the fungus observed from the field. All non-inoculated control plants remained symptomless. Hitherto Golovinomyces powdery mildews on Salvia spp. were reported globally (Farr and Rossman 2021). However, Podosphaera elsholtziae on Salvia sp. and P. xanthii on S. farinacea were reported from China and Taiwan (Zheng and Yu 1987, Yeh et al. 2021). To our knowledge, this is the first report of P. xanthii on S. farinacea in Korea. The occurrence of Podosphaera powdery mildew on S. farinacea could pose a serious threat to the beauty of this plant, causing premature senescence of young leaves and gray to purplish discoloration of the leaves.


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 ◽  
2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hugo Beltrán-Peña ◽  
Ruben Felix-Gastelum ◽  
Moises Camacho-Tapia ◽  
Kamila C. Correia ◽  
Gabriel Herrera-Rodriguez ◽  
...  

Leucophyllum frutescens (Scrophulariaceae family), commonly known as Texas sage or cenizo, is an evergreen shrub native to southwestern United States and northern Mexico. This plant is commercially sold as a native, drought-tolerant ornamental. During the spring of 2019 and 2020, typical symptoms of powdery mildew were found on cenizo plants growing as ornamentals in urban areas in the municipality of Ahome, Sinaloa, Mexico. Disease incidence was 95% from a sampled population of 120 plants. Initial symptoms of powdery mildew developed as irregular white colonies on upper leaf surfaces which expanded as infections progressed. In severe infections, leaves became distorted, exhibiting premature defoliation. Microscopic examination showed nipple-shaped appressoria. Conidiophores (n= 30) were hyaline, cylindrical, erect, 89.4 to 134.2 μm long, and forming catenescent conidia. Foot-cells were cylindrical, 35.7 to 65.3 × 10.2 to 13.5 μm, followed by 1–3 shorter cells. Conidia (n= 100) were hyaline, ellipsoid to ovoid, 27.9 to 40.5 × 13.8 to 18.9 μm, containing distinct fibrosin bodies. Germ tubes were simple to forked and laterally produced from the middle of conidia. Chasmothecia were not found during the sampling period on the infected leaves. Based on morphological characteristics, the fungus was identified as Podosphaera xanthii (Braun and Cook 2012). A voucher specimen (accession no. FAVF219) was deposited in the Herbarium of the Faculty of Agronomy of El Fuerte Valley at the Autonomous University of Sinaloa (Juan Jose Rios, Sinaloa, Mexico). To further confirm the identification, total DNA was extracted, and the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region was amplified by PCR using the primers ITS5/ITS4 (White et al. 1990) and sequenced. The resulting 503 bp sequence (GenBank accession no. MT624793) had 100% coverage and 100% identity to those of P. xanthii (MT568609–MT568611, MT472035, MT309699, MT250855, MT242593). A phylogenetic tree using the maximum parsimony (MP) and maximum likelihood (ML) methods and including published ITS sequences for Podosphaera species was obtained. Phylogenetic analyses revealed that ITS sequence from FAVF219 isolate was grouped into a clade with P. xanthii. Pathogenicity was demonstrated by gently dusting conidia from infected leaves onto 50 leaves of five healthy plants. Five non-inoculated plants served as controls. All plants were covered with polyethylene bags for 48 h to maintain high humidity and were maintained in a greenhouse at temperatures ranging from 20 to 35ºC. All inoculated plants developed similar symptoms to the original observations after 19 days, whereas no symptoms of powdery mildew were observed on control plants. The fungus present on the inoculated plants was morphologically identical to that originally observed on diseased plants, fulfilling Koch’s postulates. This fungus has been reported infecting members of the Cucurbitaceae in Mexico (Félix-Gastélum et al. 2017; Farr and Rossman 2020). However, to our knowledge, this is the first report of P. xanthii causing powdery mildew on a member of Scrophulariaceae, specifically L. frutescens in Mexico and worldwide. Further studies for monitoring and control strategies of powdery mildew on Texas sage are required.


Plant Disease ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 96 (6) ◽  
pp. 912-912 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Stevanović ◽  
I. Stanković ◽  
A. Vučurović ◽  
N. Dolovac ◽  
E. Pfaf-Dolovac ◽  
...  

In September 2011, tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L. ‘Big Beef’) plants showing typical symptoms of powdery mildew were collected in a greenhouse in the vicinity of Padinska Skela (District of City of Belgrade) in Serbia. Numerous circular, white colonies of powdery mildew were observed predominantly on the adaxial surface of the leaves, the petioles, and the stems. The foliage of infected plants turned yellow and necrotic, which was followed by rapid defoliation. Disease incidence was estimated by counting plants with powdery mildew symptoms in a random batch of 100 plants in four replicates and estimated to be extremely high, approaching 90%. Tomato plants (‘Novosadski Jabučar’) were inoculated with conidia released from diseased tomato leaves positioned above the tomato leaves and maintained at 25°C with a 14-h photoperiod. Healthy tomato plants from the same lot, which were not exposed to the conidia shower, were used as negative control. The first white fungal colonies appeared on the leaves of the inoculated plants within 4 to 7 days after inoculation, while no fungal growth was observed in the control plants. To determine the morphological characteristics of the pathogen, surface mycelium was removed with small strips of clear adhesive tape and examined using light microscopy. Microscopic observation revealed mycelium with lobed appressoria and hyaline, ellipsoid-ovoid or doliform conidia (32.5 to 47.5 × 17.5 to 25 μm) with no distinct firosin bodies and which produced sub-terminal germ tubes. Conidia were produced on the unbranched, erect conidiophores (82.5 to 150 μm) consisting of a cylindrical foot-cell followed by one to three short cells. No chasmothecia were found. On the basis of morphological characteristics, the pathogen was identified as Oidium neolycopersici (4), which was confirmed by internal transcribed spacer (ITS) sequence analysis. Total DNA was extracted directly from the whitish spots of superficial mycelium on the leaves with a DNeasy Plant Mini Kit (Qiagen, Hilden, Germany) following the manufacturer's instructions. PCR amplification and sequencing were performed with primers ITS1F and ITS4 (1). The nucleotide sequence of the representative isolate 809-11 (Accession No. JQ619840) shared 100% identity with 16 O. neolycopersici isolates deposited in GenBank from different parts of the world. Tomato powdery mildew caused by O. neolycopersici is present in many European (4) and other countries around the world (3) and is becoming economically very important as majority of the tomato cultivars have shown to be susceptible (2). To our knowledge, this is the first report of O. neolycopersici in Serbia. Because tomato is a very popular and widely grown vegetable in Serbia, the presence of a new and potentially harmful disease could endanger greenhouse as well as open field tomato production. References: (1) J. H. Cunnington et al. Australas. Plant Pathol. 32:421, 2003. (2) T. Jankovics et al. Phytopathology 98:529, 2008. (3) H. Jones et al. Mol. Plant Pathol. 2:303, 2001. (4) L. Kiss et al. Mycol. Res. 105:684, 2001.


Plant Disease ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
In-Young Choi ◽  
Ho-Jong Ju ◽  
Kui-Jae Lee ◽  
Hyeon-Dong Shin

Benincasa hispida (Thunb.) Cogn. (syn. B. cerifera Savi, Cucurbita hispida Thunb.), called wax gourd or ash gourd, is a cucurbitaceous vine grown for medicinal purposes and commercial values of its large fruits in Southeast Asia (Al-Snafi 2013). During the summer and autumn of 2020, leaves of wax gourd were observed to be affected by powdery mildew with 100% disease incidence in an experimental plot of Jeonbuk National University (35°50′55″N, 127°07′48″E), Korea. Fungal colonies were initially circular to irregular, forming white patches on both sides of the leaves and young stems, finally covering entire leaves and causing premature senescence of the leaves and poor growth. A representative voucher specimen was deposited in the Korea University herbarium (KUS-F32171). At least 30 measurements were taken for each asexual diagnostic features. Conidiophores arising from superficial hyphae were straight, 100 to 210 μm long, and produced 3 to 7 immature conidia in chains with a crenate outline. Foot-cells were cylindrical, 46 to 74 ×10 to 12 μm, followed by 1 to 2 shorter cells. Conidia were ellipsoid-ovoid to barrel-shaped, 30 to 40 × 18 to 23 μm with a length/width ratio of 1.4 to 2.0 and contained conspicuous fibrosin bodies. Germ tubes were produced from a lateral position on conidia. Sexual stage was not observed during the growing season. The morphological characteristics of the fungus were compatible with those of Podosphaera xanthii (Castagne) U. Braun & Shishkoff (Braun and Cook 2012), a well-known cucurbitaceous powdery mildew. DNA was extracted from mycelium, and primer sets ITS1F/PM6 and PM3/TW14 were used for amplification of ITS1-5.8S-ITS2 regions and 5´-end of 28S rDNA gene, respectively (Takamatsu and Kano 2001). Sequences determined in this study were deposited to the GenBank under the accession numbers MW559231 and MW559420, respectively. The sequences for ITS regions and 28S rDNA gene showed 99.78% and 99.07% similarity respectively with those of P. xanthii (MH465242, MH465243, MT250855 for ITS, and MK357436, MT826247 for LSU). Pathogenicity was confirmed twice by pressing a diseased leaf onto young leaves of five wax gourd plants. Five non-inoculated plants were used as controls. Inoculated leaves developed symptoms after 5 days, whereas the control plants remained symptomless. The fungus present on the inoculated plants was identical morphologically to that originally observed on diseased plants. Sphaerotheca fuliginea (syn. P. xanthii) on B. hispida has been listed in Hungary, India, Japan, Singapore, and Taiwan so far (Farr and Rossman 2021). Recently, the identity of P. xanthii on B. hispida in Taiwan was confirmed with morphological examination and molecular analysis by Wu and Kirschner (2017). To our knowledge, this is the first report of powdery mildew caused by P. xanthii on B. hispida in Korea. Since wax gourd production is only recently started on a commercial scale in the southern part of Korea, powdery mildew infections pose a serious threat to the safe production of the fruits, especially in organic farming where chemical control options are limited.


Agriculture ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (11) ◽  
pp. 1177
Author(s):  
Yasser S. Mostafa ◽  
Mohamed Hashem ◽  
Ali M. Alshehri ◽  
Saad Alamri ◽  
Ebrahem M. Eid ◽  
...  

This research evaluated the efficacy of essential oils in the management of cucumber powdery mildew. Essential oils of lemongrass, lemon, thyme, peppermint, abundance blend, purification blend, and thieves blend were tested in vitro and under greenhouse conditions in two separate experiments. The effects of essential oils were tested against powdery mildew disease at concentrations of 1.0–2.5 mL/L, and the consequent impact of the oils on plant growth was evaluated. Powdery mildew fungus, Podosphaera xanthii, was identified using sequencing of the ITS region. The essential oils significantly reduced disease incidence up to 77.3% compared with the positive control (p < 0.5). Moreover, the essential oils increased the plant length (up to 187 cm), leaf area (up to 27.5 cm2), fresh weight (up to 123 g), dry weight (up to 22.5 g), number of flowers (16.3), and metabolite content compared with the positive control (p < 0.5). Cell membrane injury decreased significantly in the oil-treated pants (p < 0.5), indicating the protective effect of essential oils. This study recommends the application of essential oils in an appropriate dose (2.5 mL/L) to protect cucumber plants against powdery mildew. Overdose of the oils (more than 2.5 mL/L) should be avoided due to adverse effects.


2019 ◽  
Vol 102 (2) ◽  
pp. 599-599 ◽  
Author(s):  
In-Young Choi ◽  
Young-Joon Choi ◽  
Hyeon-Dong Shin

Plant Disease ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 104 (3) ◽  
pp. 985-985
Author(s):  
Xuewen Xu ◽  
Xueli Liu ◽  
Ming Tan ◽  
Xiaohua Qi ◽  
Qiang Xu ◽  
...  

2018 ◽  
Vol 19 (3) ◽  
pp. 220-221 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anthony P. Keinath ◽  
Gabriel Rennberger ◽  
Chandrasekar S. Kousik

Resistance to boscalid, one of the older succinate-dehydrogenase inhibitors (SHDI) in Fungicide Resistance Action Committee (FRAC) code 7, was detected in Podosphaera xanthii, the cucurbit powdery mildew fungus, in South Carolina in July 2017. Resistance to the field rate (682 ppm) of boscalid was confirmed in greenhouse experiments and laboratory bioassays conducted on summer squash plants and cotyledons, respectively, that had been treated with a range of boscalid concentrations. This report is the first documentation of resistance to boscalid in P. xanthii in the southern United States.


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