scholarly journals Relationships of Environmental and Cultural Factors with Severity of Gray Leaf Spot in Maize

Plant Disease ◽  
2002 ◽  
Vol 86 (10) ◽  
pp. 1127-1133 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alka Bhatia ◽  
G. P. Munkvold

Gray leaf spot of maize caused by Cercospora zeae-maydis is a major foliar disease in the United States and other parts of the world. Efficient management of gray leaf spot is hindered by a lack of quantitative information regarding environmental and cultural influences on disease severity. We collected environmental, cultural, and disease severity data in southern Iowa at 13 locations in 1998 and 11 locations in 1999. The independent variables that we considered included temperature, relative humidity, leaf wetness, percent maize residue cover, distance to nearest maize residue, planting date, and previous crop. A time-duration value (TDV) variable was created to represent cumulative hours of favorable temperature (22 ≤ T ≤ 30°C) and relative humidity (≥95%). Disease severity was assessed at 2-week intervals on three to eight maize genotypes differing in gray leaf spot resistance and maturity at each location. Environmental, cultural, and disease data were summarized for four different periods during the growing season and analyzed by stepwise multiple linear regression in order to determine which variables significantly contributed to gray leaf spot severity at the dough or dent growth stages of maize. In 1998, genotype resistance, planting date, distance to nearest maize residue, wetness duration, and TDV had significant effects on disease severity. R2 values were similar among the four periods. The best-fitting model for the 1998 data had an R2 of 0.65. With 1998 and 1999 data combined, results were similar except that percent maize residue cover was significant rather than distance to nearest maize residue. The best-fitting model had an R2 of 0.55. The 2-year model utilizing only the weather variables from emergence to 2 weeks before silking had an R2 value of 0.43. Strong linear relationships existed between gray leaf spot severity and genotype resistance, maize surface residue, planting date, and TDV. These results can serve as a foundation for the development of a prediction model for gray leaf spot severity on maize.

Plant Disease ◽  
2007 ◽  
Vol 91 (5) ◽  
pp. 517-524 ◽  
Author(s):  
Y. Tosa ◽  
W. Uddin ◽  
G. Viji ◽  
S. Kang ◽  
S. Mayama

Gray leaf spot caused by Magnaporthe oryzae is a serious disease of perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne) turf in golf course fairways in the United States and Japan. Genetic relationships among M. oryzae isolates from perennial ryegrass (prg) isolates within and between the two countries were examined using the repetitive DNA elements MGR586, Pot2, and MAGGY as DNA fingerprinting probes. In all, 82 isolates of M. oryzae, including 57 prg isolates from the United States collected from 1995 to 2001, 1 annual ryegrass (Lolium multiflorum) isolate from the United States collected in 1972, and 24 prg isolates from Japan collected from 1996 to 1999 were analyzed in this study. Hybridization with the MGR586 probe resulted in approximately 30 DNA fragments in 75 isolates (designated major MGR586 group) and less than 15 fragments in the remaining 7 isolates (designated minor MGR586 group). Both groups were represented among the 24 isolates from Japan. All isolates from the United States, with the exception of one isolate from Maryland, belonged to the major MGR586 group. Some isolates from Japan exhibited MGR586 fingerprints that were identical to several isolates collected in Pennsylvania. Similarly, fingerprinting analysis with the Pot2 probe also indicated the presence of two distinct groups: isolates in the major MGR586 group showed fingerprinting profiles comprising 20 to 25 bands, whereas the isolates in the minor MGR586 group had less than 10 fragments. When MAGGY was used as a probe, two distinct fingerprint types, one exhibiting more than 30 hybridizing bands (type I) and the other with only 2 to 4 bands (type II), were identified. Although isolates of both types were present in the major MGR586 group, only the type II isolates were identified in the minor MGR586 group. The parsimony tree obtained from combined MGR586 and Pot2 data showed that 71 of the 82 isolates belonged to a single lineage, 5 isolates formed four different lineages, and the remaining 6 (from Japan) formed a separate lineage. This study indicates that the predominant groups of M. oryzae associated with the recent outbreaks of gray leaf spot in Japan and the United States belong to the same genetic lineage.


1998 ◽  
Vol 88 (12) ◽  
pp. 1269-1275 ◽  
Author(s):  
Juan Wang ◽  
Morris Levy ◽  
Larry D. Dunkle

Monoconidial isolates of the fungus causing gray leaf spot of maize were obtained from diseased leaves collected throughout the United States and analyzed for genetic variability at 111 amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) loci. Cluster analysis revealed two very distinct groups of Cercospora zeae-maydis isolates. Both groups were found to be relatively uniform internally with an average genetic similarity among isolates of approximately 93 and 94%, respectively. The groups were separated from each other by a genetic distance of approximately 80%, a distance greater than that separating each group from the sorghum pathogen, C. sorghi (67 to 70%). Characteristics and dimensions of conidia and conid-iophores produced on infected plants or nutrient media were unreliable criteria for taxonomic differentiation of isolates composing the two groups of C. zeae-maydis. Nucleotide sequences of 5.8S ribosomal DNA (rDNA) and the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) regions were identical within each group but different between the two groups and different from C. sorghi. Restriction fragment length polymorphisms generated by digestion of the 5.8S rDNA and ITS regions with TaqI readily distinguished each group and C. sorghi. Isolates in one group were generally distributed throughout maize-producing regions of the United States; isolates in the other group were localized in the eastern third of the country. Both types were present in the same fields at some locations. The genetic distance based on AFLP profiles and different ITS nucleotide sequences between the two morphologically indistinguishable groups indicate that they are sibling species. Although it is unlikely that breeding for resistance to gray leaf spot will be confounded by local or regional variation in the pathogen, a vigilant approach is warranted, because two pathogenic species exist with unknown abilities to evolve new pathotypes.


2000 ◽  
Vol 90 (5) ◽  
pp. 486-490 ◽  
Author(s):  
Larry D. Dunkle ◽  
Morris Levy

Two taxonomically identical but genetically distinct sibling species, designated groups I and II, of Cercospora zeae-maydis cause gray leaf spot of maize in the United States. Isolates of the gray leaf spot pathogen from Africa were compared with isolates from the United States by amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) analysis and restriction digests of internal transcribed spacer (ITS) regions and 5.8S ribosomal DNA (rDNA), as well as by morphological and cultural characteristics. The isolates from Africa were morphologically indistinguishable from the U.S. isolates in both groups, but like isolates of group II, they grew more slowly and failed to produce detectable amounts of cercosporin in culture. Analysis of restriction fragments from the ITS and rDNA regions digested with five endonucleases indicated that all of the African isolates shared the profile of the C. zeae-maydis group II population from the eastern United States and, thus, are distinct from the group I population, which is more prevalent in the United States and other parts of the world. Cluster analysis of 85 AFLP loci confirmed that the African and U.S. group II populations were conspecific (greater than 97% average similarity) with limited variability. Among all group II isolates, only 8 of 57 AFLP loci were polymorphic, and none was specific to either population. Thus, although gray leaf spot was reported in the United States several decades prior to the first record in Africa, the relative age of the two populations on their respective continents could not be ascertained with confidence. The absence of C. zeae-maydis group I in our samples from four countries in the major maize-producing region of Africa as well as the greater AFLP haplotype diversity found in the African group II population, however, suggest that Africa was the source of C. zeae-maydis group II in the United States. The overall paucity of AFLP variation in this sibling species further suggests that its origin is recent or that the ancestral population experienced a severe bottleneck prior to secondary migration.


Plant Disease ◽  
2001 ◽  
Vol 85 (8) ◽  
pp. 817-826 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. Viji ◽  
B. Wu ◽  
S. Kang ◽  
W. Uddin ◽  
D. R. Huff

Gray leaf spot is a serious disease of perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne) turf in the United States. Isolates of Pyricularia grisea causing the disease in perennial ryegrass were characterized using molecular markers and pathogenicity assays on various gramineous hosts. Genetic relationships among perennial ryegrass isolates were determined using different types of trans-posons as probes. Phylogenetic analysis using Pot2 and MGR586 probes, analyzed with AMOVA (analysis of molecular variance), showed that these isolates from perennial ryegrass consist of three closely related lineages. All the isolates belonged to a single mating type, MAT1-2. Among 20 isolates from 16 host species other than perennial ryegrass, only the isolates from wheat (Triticum aestivum) and triticale (× Triticosecale), showed notable similarity to the perennial ryegrass isolates based on their Pot2 fingerprints. The copy number and fingerprints of Pot2 and MGR586 in isolates of P. grisea from perennial ryegrass indicate that they are genetically distinct from the isolates derived from rice (Oryza sativa) in the United States. The perennial ryegrass isolates also had the same sequence in the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region of the genes encoding ribosomal RNA as that of the wheat and triticale isolates, and exhibited rice isolate sequence polymorphisms. In pathogenicity assays, all the isolates of P. grisea from Legacy II perennial ryegrass caused characteristic blast symptoms on Marilee soft white winter wheat, Bennett hard red winter wheat, Era soft white spring wheat, and Presto triticale, and they were highly virulent on these hosts. An isolate from wheat and one from triticale (from Brazil) were also highly virulent on perennial ryegrass and Rebel III tall fescue (Festuca arundinacea). None of the isolates from perennial ryegrass caused the disease on Lagrue rice, and vice versa. Understanding the population structure of P. grisea isolates infecting perennial ryegrass and their relatedness to isolates from other gramineous hosts may aid in identifying alternate hosts for this pathogen.


Plant Disease ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 96 (9) ◽  
pp. 1380-1380 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Garibaldi ◽  
G. Gilardi ◽  
G. Ortu ◽  
M. L. Gullino

Lettuce (Lactuca sativa L.) is widely grown in Italy, with the production for the preparation of ready-to-eat salads becoming increasingly important. During the spring of 2011, a previously unknown leaf spot was observed on L. sativa plants, cv Rubia, grown in several plastic tunnels in Lumbardy (northern Italy), 20 to 25 days after sowing. Thirty to forty per cent of leaves of the plants growing in the part of the tunnel with the highest relative humidity were affected. Leaves of infected plants showed extensive, irregular, dark brown, necrotic lesions with a chlorotic halo. Lesions initially ranged from 0.5 to 3 mm, then eventually coalesced, reaching 2 to 3 cm, showing a well-defined, dark brown border. Affected leaves senesced and withered. The crown was not affected by the disease. Diseased tissue was excised, immersed in a solution containing 1% sodium hypochlorite for 60 s, rinsed in water, then cultured on potato dextrose agar (PDA), amended with 25 mg/l of streptomycin sulphate. After 5 days, a fungus developed, producing a greenish grey mycelium with a white border when incubated under 12 h/day of fluorescent light at 21 to 23°C. In order to favor the production of conidia, the fungus was transferred on malt extract agar (MA) and maintained under 12 h/day of fluorescent light at 22°C. After 15 days, black pycnidia, 175 to 225 μm, developed, with hyaline, elliptical, unicellular conidia, measuring 3.21 to 6.7 × 1.08 to 3.2 (average 5.5 × 1.9) μm. On the basis of these morphological characteristics, the fungal causal agent of the disease could be related to the genus Phoma (2). The internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region of rDNA of the isolate PHT30 was amplified using the primers ITS1/ITS4 and sequenced. BLAST analysis (1) of the 466-bp segment showed a 99% similarity with the sequence of Phoma tropica (GenBank Accession No. JF923820.1). The nucleotide sequence has been assigned the GenBank Accession No. JQ954396. Pathogenicity tests were performed by spraying healthy 20-day-old lettuce plants, cv Rubia, with a spore suspension (1 × 105 conidia/ml) prepared from 14-day-old colonies of the strain PHT30 grown on MA cultures. Plants inoculated with water alone served as controls. Ten plants per isolate were used. Plants were covered with plastic bags for 5 days after inoculation and maintained in a growth chamber at 20°C and 80% relative humidity. The first foliar lesions, similar to those occurring on the naturally infected plants, developed on leaves 12 days after inoculation. Control plants remained healthy. The pathogen was consistently reisolated from leaf lesions. The pathogenicity test was completed twice. To our knowledge, this is the first report of the presence of P. tropica on lettuce in Italy as well as worldwide. In the United States, the presence of P. exigua was reported in 2006 (3). The economic importance of the disease at present is limited, probably also because symptoms can be confused with those caused by Botrytis cinerea. However, P. tropica could become a more significant problem because of the importance of the crop. References: (1) S. F. Altschul et al. Nucleic Acids Res. 25:3389, 1997. (2) G. H. Boerema. Trans. Br. Mycol. Soc. 67:289, 1976. (3) S. Y. Koike. Plant Dis. 90:1268, 2006.


2020 ◽  
Vol 21 (4) ◽  
pp. 224-229
Author(s):  
Darcy E. P. Telenko ◽  
Jeffrey D. Ravellette ◽  
Kiersten A. Wise

Gray leaf spot (Cercospora zeae-maydis) is a foliar disease of corn (Zea mays) that consistently reduces yields across the United States and is an annual concern in Indiana corn production. Field trials were conducted in West Lafayette, IN, over 3 years (2016 to 2018) to evaluate the effectiveness of 12-leaf collar stage (V12) foliar fungicide applications compared with tasseling (VT) applications for gray leaf spot management and yield. Results indicated that during years in which foliar disease severity was less than 4%, there was no effect of application timing on gray leaf spot severity. In 2018, when gray leaf spot levels exceeded 5%, significantly less disease was observed in treatments receiving VT applications compared with V12 applications. Application timing did not affect yield in any year of the experiment. In 2016, benzovindiflupyr + azoxystrobin + propiconazole resulted in greater yields compared with the nontreated control, and in 2018, pyraclostrobin + metconazole and benzovindiflupyr + azoxystrobin + propiconazole resulted in greater yields compared with the nontreated control. This research indicates that in high disease pressure environments and years, Indiana farmers may want to continue to apply fungicides at VT rather than apply prior to tassel.


Plant Disease ◽  
2005 ◽  
Vol 89 (6) ◽  
pp. 624-630 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. A. Paul ◽  
G. P. Munkvold

Controlled environment studies were conducted to determine the effects of temperature on the expansion of lesions of gray leaf spot, and the effects of temperature and relative humidity on the sporulation of Cercospora zeae-maydis on maize (Zea mays). For the lesion expansion experiment, potted maize plants were spray inoculated at growth stage V6, bagged, and incubated at 25 to 28°C and 100% relative humidity for 36 to 40 h. Symptomatic plants were transferred to growth chambers and exposed to constant temperatures of 25, 30, and 35°C. Lesion area (length by width) was measured at 4-day intervals for 17 days. For sporulation studies, lesions were excised from naturally infected maize leaves, measured, and incubated at constant temperature (20, 25, 30, or 35°C) and relative humidity (70, 80, 90, or 100%) for 72 h. Sporulation was estimated as the number of conidia per square centimeter of diseased leaf tissue. A quadratic function was used to model the relationship between log-transformed conidia per square centimeter at 100% relative humidity and temperature. Temperature had a significant effect on lesion expansion (P ≤ 0.05). At 25 and 30°C, the rate of lesion expansion was significantly higher than at 35°C (P ≤ 0.05). The largest lesions and the highest mean rate of lesion expansion were observed at 30°C; however, the mean lesion expansion rate at this temperature was not significantly different from that at 25°C. The interaction effect of temperature and relative humidity on the log of conidia per square centimeter of diseased tissue was significant (P ≤ 0.05). At 100% relative humidity, the effect of temperature on sporulation was significant (P ≤ 0.05), with maximum spore production occurring at 25 and 30°C. The quadratic model explained between 49 and 80% of the variation in the log of conidia per square centimeter at 100% with variation in temperature. These results suggest that the rapid increase in gray leaf spot severity generally observed during mid- and late summer may be due to favorable conditions for lesion expansion during this period. When relative humidity is >95%, expanding lesions may serve as a source of inoculum for secondary infections.


Plant Disease ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 95 (2) ◽  
pp. 189-194 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. A. Bradley ◽  
D. K. Pedersen

Cercospora zeae-maydis, the causal agent of gray leaf spot on corn (Zea mays), can cause severe yield loss in the United States. Quinone outside inhibitor (QoI) fungicides are effective tools that can be used to manage gray leaf spot, and their use has increased in corn production in the United States. In total, 61 C. zeae-maydis isolates collected from fields in which QoI fungicides had never been applied were tested in vitro using azoxystrobin-, pyraclostrobin-, or trifloxystrobin-amended medium to determine the effective fungicide concentration at which 50% of the conidial germination was inhibited (EC50). The effect of salicylhydroxamic acid (SHAM) also was evaluated for seven isolates to determine whether C. zeae-maydis is capable of using alternative respiration in azoxystrobin-amended medium. All seven C. zeae-maydis isolates tested had significantly greater (P < 0.02) EC50 values when SHAM was not included in medium amended with azoxystrobin, indicating that C. zeae-maydis has the potential to utilize alternative respiration to overcome QoI fungicide inhibition in vitro. Baseline EC50 values of azoxystrobin ranged from 0.003 to 0.031 μg/ml, with mean and median values of 0.018 and 0.019 μg/ml, respectively. Baseline EC50 values of pyraclostrobin ranged from 0.0003 to 0.0025 μg/ml, with mean and median values of 0.0010 and 0.0010 μg/ml, respectively. Baseline EC50 values of trifloxystrobin ranged from 0.0004 to 0.0034 μg/ml, with mean and median values of 0.0023 and 0.0024 μg/ml, respectively. These baseline sensitivity values will be used in a fungicide resistance monitoring program to determine whether shifts in sensitivity to QoI fungicides are occurring in C. zeae-maydis populations.


Plant Disease ◽  
2003 ◽  
Vol 87 (7) ◽  
pp. 772-778 ◽  
Author(s):  
W. Uddin ◽  
G. Viji ◽  
G. L. Schumann ◽  
S. H. Boyd

An immuno-recognition assay using a monoclonal antibody was developed to detect Pyricularia grisea, the causal agent of gray leaf spot of perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne). In vitro assays with isolates of P. grisea from perennial ryegrass, tall fescue (Festuca arundinacea), St. Augustinegrass (Stenotaphrum secundatum), crabgrass (Digitaria sanguinalis), finger millet (Eleusine coracana), wheat (Triticum aestivum), triticale (× Triticosecale rimpaui), and rice (Oryza sativa) showed positive reactions; however, the strength of the reactions differed among isolates. Reactions were more intense with isolates from perennial ryegrass, wheat, and triticale. All P. grisea isolates from perennial ryegrass collected from various regions of the United States showed positive reactions. P. grisea was detected at antigen dilution rates of 0.5×, 0.25×, 0.13×, 0.06×, and 0.03×. Dot-blot assays with Bipolaris sorokiniana, Colletotrichum graminicola, Curvularia lunata, Microdochium nivale, Pythium aphanidermatum, Rhizoctonia solani, or Sclerotinia homoeocarpa isolated from turfgrasses were negative. In vivo assays of symptomatic leaves of perennial ryegrass plants inoculated with P. grisea also showed positive reactions, and those inoculated with B. sorokiniana, P. aphanidermatum, R. solani, or S. homoeocarpa were negative. Intensity of reaction between the monoclonal antibody and P. grisea was proportional to disease severity in perennial ryegrass inoculated with P. grisea; however, there was no reaction in dot blots of leaf tissue collected during the latent period. P. grisea was detected in perennial ryegrass samples from golf course fairways affected by gray leaf spot in Connecticut, Massachusetts, Maine, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Rhode Island using this procedure. The monoclonal antibody recognition system is highly sensitive to P. grisea and can be used effectively for the rapid diagnosis of gray leaf spot of perennial ryegrass turf.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document