Professional Documents
Culture Documents
1
Date:
initial symptoms are white to gray-green lesions or spots with darker borders
produced on all parts of shoot
seedlings have small, circular or oval, brown lesions, which may girdle the
coleoptile and cause distortion of the primary and secondary leaves
(symptom is called seedling blight)
A fully developed lesion on older leaves is oval, brown with gray or whitish
center with reddish brown margin
Lesions on older leaves of moderately susceptible cultivars are tiny and dark
When infection is severe, the lesions may coalesce, killing large areas of
affected leaves.
presence of infected seeds, volunteer rice, rice debris, and several weeds
Life cycle
3. Sheath Rot
Symptoms: The disease appears at the boot leaf stage. Leaf sheath enclosing the
earhead exhibits greyish brown oblong to irregular patches of 0.5 to 1.5 cm long.
Sometimes the spots may be with brown margin and grey centre. The spots may
enlarge and coalesce and cover most of the leaf sheath. Young panicles remain
within the sheath or may emerge partially. The glumes are discoloured. White
powdery growth of the mycelium is seen inside the leaf sheath and young panicle
rots.
Older lesions are elliptical or ovoid with a grayish white center and light
brown to dark brown margin
5. Stem Rot
Symptoms: Infection takes place at the base of the plant and rotting takes place at
the culm region. Affected plants remain stunted and very rarely produce earheads.
Production of green tillers from the base of the affected plants can be seen. The
sclerotia are found in the stelar region at the culm. When the culm is split open
longitudinally, numerous sclerotia are seen in the inner side.
Fungus:
Sclerotium oryzae. The mycelium is light brown and septate.
Mustard-like black sclerotia are produced from the mycelium.
6. Foot Rot
Symptoms: The pathogen attacks both in the nursery and transplanted crop. The
affected seedlings in the nursery are chlorotic, lean and lanky. In the main field, the
affected tillers are taller than the normal plants with longer internodes and come to
flowering earlier than the healthy plants. Adventitious roots are also produced from
the first two or three nodes above the ground level. When an infected culm is split
open, a whitish cottony mycelium can be seen.
Fungus:
Fusarium moniliforme. (Sex. St: Gibberella fujikuroi) the mycelium is
yellow to rosy white and inter-and intracellular, mainly concentrated in the xylem
vessels. The microconidia are hyaline, mostly one celled, sometimes two celled and
are oval or fusiform. Macroconidia are sickle shaped, narrow at both ends with 3-5
cells.
7. False Smut
Symptoms: The disease appears on the earhead where individual ovaries are
transformed into large, velvety greenish spore balls. The spore balls may reach one
cm or more in diameter and enclose floral parts. The glumes are not affected.
Fungus:
Ustilaginoidea virens. The immature spores are orange in colour and
turn brownish green at maturity. The young smut spores (chlamydospores) are
almost round and smooth but when mature they become warty and olive green.
8. Udbatta Disease
Symptoms: The earheads are affected. The panicle emerges as a straight, dirty
coloured, hard, cylindrical spike, reduced in size, much resembling an agarbatti.
Infected plants are usually stunted.
Fungus:
Ephelis oryzae. The pathogen forms a stroma over the entire length
and girth of the inflorescence. Black, convex pycnidia are immersed in the stroma.
Pycnidiospores are hyaline.
9. Narrow Brown Leaf Spot
Symptoms: Narrow, short, reddish brown spots appear on leaves. Long axis of
these spots is parallel with the veins of the leaf. Spots appear on leaf sheaths,
pedicels and glumes also.
Fungus: Cercospora janseana (C.oryzae). Conidiophores are multiseptate, not
branched and geniculate. Conidia are hyaline to subhyaline, cylindrical, straight or
curved tapering towards tip and 3-5 septate.
10. Grain Discolouration
Symptoms: Dark brown or black spots appear on the grains. The discolouration
may be red, yellow, orange, pink or black, depending upon the organism involved
and the degree of infection. This disease is responsible for quantitative and
qualitative losses of grains.
Fungi: Many fungi
(Drechslera oryzae, D. rostratum, D. tetramera, Curvularia
lunata, Trichoconis padwickii, Sarocladium oryzae, Alternaria tenuis, Fusarium
moniliforme, Cladosporium herbarum, Epicoccum purpurascens, Cephalosporium
sp., Phoma sp., Nigrospora sp).
11. Bacterial Leaf Blight (BLB)
Symptoms: i. Leaf blight: Symptoms are mainly confined to leaves.
Initial
infection appears as dull greenish water-soaked or yellow spots on the leaves, which
extend along both the margins with irregular wavy margins. In advanced stages, the
entire leaf is blighted and dry up. Lesions are also seen on the leaf sheath.
ii. Kresek Stage/ wilt:
Kresek is noticed in transplanted seedlings of one to
two weeks old. Infected leaves become greyish green, begin to fold and roll
completely along the mid-rib. They droop, turn yellow or grey ultimately the tillers in
the hill will die.
Bacterium: Xanthomonas oryzae pv.oryzae. Bacterial ooze can be seen from the
cut end of the infected leaf, when immersed in clear water. The bacterium is rodshaped, Gram-negative, aerobic, non-spore forming and it is motile by single polar
flagellum.
Confirmation test for Bacterial leaf blight
In the field, diseased leaves can be collected and cut near the lower end of the
lesions. The cut diseased leaves can be placed in a test tube with water for a few
minutes. The cut portion can be observed against the light to see the bacterial ooze
streaming out from the cut ends into the water. After 1-2 hours, the water becomes
turbid
12. Bacterial Leaf Streak
Symptoms: Fine translucent streaks are found on the veins. They enlarge
lengthwise and also advanced laterally over larger veins and turn brown. In severe
cases, the leaves may dry up. Bacterial zone can be seen on the surface of the
lesions / streaks.
Bacterium: Xanthomonas oryzae pv.oryzicola. Bacteria are rod-shaped, Gramnegative, aerobic, non-spore forming, non-capsule forming and monotrichous.
13. Tungro
Symptoms: The affected plants exhibit extreme stunting and discolouration of
leaves ranging from various shades of yellow to orange yellow or brownish yellow.
The discolouration and rusty blotches spread downwards from the leaf tip. The
young leaves may show a mottled appearance whereas older leaves appear rusty.
The root development is very poor. Infected plants take longer time to flower and
mature. The panicles are small in size and sterile.
Causal agent:
Two Viruses RTBV (Rice Tungro Bacilliform Virus) and RTSV
(Rice Tungro Spherical Virus). RTBV has circular double stranded DNA and RTSV
has single stranded RNA.
The virus is transmitted by the green leaf hoppers viz., Nephotettix virescens,
N. malayanus, N. parvus and Recilia dorsalis in a non-persistent manner.
14. Yellow Dwarf
Symptoms: Plants become chlorotic and stunted. Large number of thin and pale
tillers with yellowish green leaves is seen. The affected plants will look like a clump
of grass.
Causal agent: : Phytoplasma. Green leaf hoppers, Nephotettix virescens, N
cinctures and N. nigropictus transmit this disease.
WHEAT
1. Black Rust / Stem Rust
Fungus:
Ustilago nuda tritici.
It produces unicellular pale, olive-brown,
spherical to oval, minute, echinulated smut spores (chlamydospores) in the affected
earheads.
5. Flag Smut
Symptoms: The fungus attacks leaf, stem and earheads. Greyish black linear sori
occur on the leaf blade and leaf sheath. The sorus contains black powdery mass of
spores. In severe cases dwarfing and reduction in internode length are seen.
Inflorescence development is arrested.
Fungus:
Urocystis agropyri. The spores are aggregated into balls consisting of
a dark fertile centre, surrounded by a ring of lighter coloured sterile cells. Each spore
ball contains 1 to 6 brown, globose, smooth walled spores. They germinate to
produce 3 to 4 basidia. Each basidium in turn produces 3 to 4 basidiospores at the
tip.
6. Karnal Bunt
Symptoms: The disease occurs when the grains develop in the earhead, few
grains are partially converted into black powdery mass enclosed by the pericarp.
Embryo is not affected and such grains can germinate.
Fungus:
Neovossia indica. Teliospores are dark brown, spherical to oval with
reticulations on the epispore which appear as curved spine. Spores germinate to
form a short stout promycelium at the apex of which a whorl of 60 to 185 sporidia are
formed.
7. Powdery Mildew
Symptoms: A greyish white powdery growth appears on the upper surface of the
leaf, leaf sheath and inflorescence. With advancement of the disease, the leaf blade
becomes twisted, the powdery growth turn into dark grey and finally black, causing
lesions of varying sizes. Later, the affected leaves dry up. Grain formation is poor.
Fungus:
Erysiphe graminis var. tritici. Mycelium is septate, hyaline and
ectophytic. Conidia are produced in chains on short conidiophores. Conidia are
hyaline, elliptical, and single celled and thin walled. The cleistothecia bear short
appendages and produce cylindrical to oblong asci. Each ascus contains eight
oblong, hyaline and thin walled ascospores.
8. Leaf Spot
Symptoms: Seedlings and matured plants are attacked. In the seedling yellowish,
oval to oblong spots appear on leaf blade and leaf sheath. They enlarge, turn dark
brown and cause blighting.
Fungus:
Helminthosporium sativum.
Fungus produces olivaceous
conidiophores which bear conidia. The conidia are cylindrical, 2-11 septate, basal
portion slightly tapered and the distal portion hemispherical.
9. Leaf Blight
Symptoms: The fungus produces reddish brown spots with bright yellow margin.
Several spots may coalesce to cover larger areas of the leaf to cause blighting.
Heavily infected fields display a burnt appearance from a distance.
Fungus:
Alternaria triticina. The mycelium is dull brown, branched and septate.
Conidiophores are produced through stomata bearing conidia singly or in chains of 2
to 4, septate, unbranched and erect. Conidia are smooth, oval, light brown to dark
olive-buff and multicellular with 1to 10 transverse septa and 0 to 5 longitudinal septa.
.
10. Foot Rot
Symptoms: The disease mainly occurs in seedlings and roots and rootlets become
brown in colour. Seedlings become pale green and have stunted growth. The collar
region becomes discoloured and soft; the leaf sheaths turn blackish brown and split
into shreds.
Fungi: Pythium graminicolum and P. arrhenomanes. Mycelium is hyaline, nonseptate and inter and intracellular. The fungus produces sporangia, zoospores and
oospores.
11. Tundu / Yellow Ear Rot
Symptoms: The characteristic symptom of the disease is the formation of yellow
slime on the stem and inflorescence. It dries up to form sticky yellow layers and
cause curling and twisting of the spikes. Galls formed by the nematodes replace
most of the grains in the earhead.
Causal organisms: Corynebacterium tritici (Bacterium) and Anguina tritici
(Nematode). The bacterium is rod shaped, pleomorphic and frequently exhibit club
shaped swellings, Gram positive and motile by a polar flagellum.
Questions to be answered
1. Which stage of blast infection causes highest yield loss to rice crop?
2. Blast fungus produces _____________ shaped spots on rice leaves
3. An example for internally seed-borne rice pathogen.
4. A collateral host for blast pathogen is _______________
5. Chocking of panicle is observed in __________ disease
6. Name two rice pathogens which produce sclerotia.
7. Write an example for soil-borne rice pathogen
8. Which pathogen is responsible for growth promotion in rice?
9. Name a rice pathogen which produces chlamydospores.
10. Which stage of BLB infection causes highest damage to the crop?
11. The diagnostic test used for identifying BLB / BLS infection in rice is _______
12. RTD is caused by _______________
13. Diagnostic test for RTD is _____________
14. The repeating spores of wheat rust pathogen is ________________
15. Teleutospores of Puccinia are _______ celled
16. Barberry act as an alternate host for _______________
17. The alternate host for Puccinia recondita is _____________
18. Sexual fruiting body wheat powdery mildew pathogen
19. Name one soil-borne pathogen infecting wheat crop
20. The foul smell in bunt disease of wheat is due to _____________
21. The nematode associated with yellow ear rot of wheat is ___________
True or False
1. In sheath blight, the infection usually appears in sheath which encloses panicle.
2. Sarocladium oryzae is a seed-borne pathogen.
3. Pathogen which causes false smut in rice spreads through soil, seed and air.
4. RTD causes sterility in rice crop
5. Ustilago nuda tritici is an internally seed-borne pathogen in wheat
6. Karnal bunt of wheat is a seed-borne disease
7. The conidia of wheat powdery mildew is oidium type
Differentiate
1. Sheath blight and Sheath rot
2. Sheath rot and Foot rot
3. Blast and Brown spot
4. Brown spot and Narrow brown leaf spot
5. Rice tungro disease and Yellow dwarf
6. Bacterial leaf blight and Bacterial leaf streak
7. Karnal bunt and Common bunt
8. Black rust, brown rust and yellow rust
9. Flag smut and loose smut
Ex. No. 2
Date:
DISEASES OF MILLETS
(Sorghum, Maize, Pearlmillet and Ragi)
SORGHUM
1. Short Smut / Grain Smut / Covered Smut/Kernel Smut
Symptoms: The disease becomes apparent only at the time of grain formation in
the earhead. Most of the grains are transformed into smut sori. They are larger than
the normal grains. Individual sori are oval or conical and are covered with a rough
white or cream to light brown skin (peridium), which often persists unbroken up to
threshing.
Fungus:
Sporisorium sorghi (Syn. Sphacelotheca sorghi). The fungus is
present in the form of sorus which is cylindrical, dirty grey, sac-like structure, having a
tough wall and a long, hard central tissue called columella. The space in between
the sorus wall and columella is filled with large number of chlamydospores. The
Smut spores are round or oval, smooth and thick walled, olive brown singly and in
mass appear dark brown. They are often united into loose balls which break up into
individual spores when placed in water.
2. Loose Smut
Symptoms: The affected plants are shorter, produce thinner stalks, more tillers
and malformed spikelets in the earhead. Earheads come out earlier. Normally all
florets of infected heads are smutted. Sori occur on rachis and branches of
inflorescence also. The sorus replaces the stamens and pistil. The affected
earheads are looser than the normal ones.
Fungus:
Sporisorium cruentum (syn. Sphacelotheca cruenta). The fungus is
present in the form of spores enclosed by the thin sorus membrane, having columella
at the centre of the sorus. Smut spores are spherical to elliptical, dark brown with
echinulated spore wall. They germinate to form a four celled promycelium with
laterally borne sporidia.
3. Head Smut
Symptoms: The disease becomes apparent only at the time of flowering. The
head is either completely or partially replaced by a large whitish gall. The galls are at
first covered by a whitish grey membrane of fungal tissue which ruptures before the
earhead emergence and expose a mass of brown or black smut spores among which
long, thin, dark coloured filaments (vascular bundles) are seen.
Fungus:
Sporisorium holci-sorghi (syn. Sporisorium reilianum; Sphacelotheca
reiliana). The fungus is systemic in the host plant and produces chlamydospores or
smut spores, which are angular to spherical, reddish brown to black with finely
echinulate spore wall.
4. Long Smut
Symptoms: Few grains in the earhead are transformed into smut sori, which are
scattered in the earhead. In severe case, most of the grains are transformed into
sori. The sorus is covered by a membrane, cylindrical, slightly curved and is much
longer than the other smuts. The membrane breaks and releases the black spore
mass.
Fungus:
Tolyposporium ehrenbergii. The fungus produces smut sori filled with
black masses of spores. The spores are firmly united and form spore balls. They
are globose or angular and brownish green in colour. Inside the sorus, there is a
bundle of brown filaments.
5. Rust
Symptoms: The rust appears as small flecks on the lower surface of the lower
leaves. Later it spreads to other leaves. They are purple, tan or red coloured
depending on the cultivar. They rupture and release powdery mass of uredospores.
Uredosori are elliptical and lie between and parallel with the leaf veins. Teleutosori
are dark coloured and longer than the uredosori. The pustules may occur on leaf
sheaths and inflorescence stalks also.
Fungus:
Puccinia purpurea. Uredospores are unicellular, pedicellate, elliptical
or oval, echinulate and dark brown in colour. The teleutospores are chocolate brown,
elliptical, two celled and constricted at the septum with rounded apex. It is
heteroecious and long cycle rust. The alternate host is Oxalis corniculata.
6. Downy Mildew
Symptoms: The infected plants tiller excessively and dwarfed because of
shortened internodes. The leaves become pale and chlorotic with broad streaks
extending from the base to the tip. As the disease advances the leaf becomes
shredded lengthwise (leaf shredding). Downy fungal growth can be seen on the
lower surface of the leaf and even on the upper surface in severe cases.
Fungus:
Peronosclerospora sorghi.
It is an obligate parasite.
Fungus
develops systemically in the host plant. Hyphae are intercellular and non-septate
and send branched haustoria into the host cells. Sporangiophores arise through the
stomata and branch irregularly to produce sterigmata bearing sporangia. Sporangia
are single celled, globose, hyaline, thin walled and lack papilla. Oospores are
produced at the later stages in shredded leaves. They are thick walled, dark brown
and round.
7. Leaf Spot
Symptoms: Spots are rectangular to irregular, dark red to purplish in colour. They
occur on the leaf blade and sheath. The colour varies with the varieties. The spots
are red, purple, brown or straw coloured and are slightly sunken in the middle with
lighter colour. Several spots merge together and form bigger lesions. Severe
spotting causes drying of leaves.
Fungus:
Cercospora sorghi. Mycelium is septate, hyaline or light brown
coloured and intercellular. Conidiophores are brown and emerge in clusters through
stomata, simple or rarely branched, geniculate and 0 to 5 septate. Conidia are
hyaline, thin walled, long, obclavate and three to many septate.
8. Anthracnose / Red Leaf Spot / Red Rot
Symptoms: Fungus causes small, oval and reddish spots with straw coloured
centre and red, purple or tan margins. Black dots of acervuli are seen on the centre
of the spots. Several spots coalesce together and kill large patches of the leaf blade.
Midrib infection is seen as elongate, elliptical, red or purple lesions on which black
acervuli are seen. Red rot phase occur in stalks and/or in the inflorescences and is
characterized externally by the development of circular cankers, particularly in the
inflorescence. Infected stems when split open show discolouration, which may be
continuous over a large area or more generally discontinuous, giving the stem a
marbled appearance.
Fungus:
Colletotrichum graminicola.
Acervuli with setae arise through
epidermis. The fungus produces large number of short hyaline conidiophores which
release hyaline, single celled and sickle shaped conidia. Setae are long, rigid,
pointed and black.
9. Leaf Blight
Symptoms: Long elliptical necrotic lesions, with straw coloured centre and dark
margin appear on the leaves. The lesions increase in size even to the entire length
of the lamina with 1 to 2 cm width. In severe cases, several lesions cause blighting
of the leaf.
Fungus:
Exserohilum turcicum (syn. Helminthosporium turcicum; perfect stage:
Trichometasphaeria turcica).
Mycelium is septate, coloured and internal.
Conidiophores arise through stomata in groups. They are simple olivaceous,
septate, straight or bent. Conidia are brown to dark brown, long, spindle shaped,
straight or slightly curved and many septate.
10. Sugary Disease / Ergot
Symptoms: Secretion of creamy sticky liquid (honey dew) from infected florets is
seen. Under favourable conditions 1-2 cm long, straight or curved, cream to light
brown hard sclerotia develops in the infected spikelets. Colonization by Cerebella
sp. gives the head a blackened appearance.
Fungus:
Claviceps sorghi (Sphacelia sorghi). Mycelium is septate. Large
number of single celled, hyaline, elliptical to oblong, thin walled conidia are seen in
the honey-dew. The sclerotia are cylindrical, straight or curved, hard and black.
11. Phanerogamic Parasite Witch Weed
Symptoms: The root exudates of sorghum stimulate the seeds of the parasite to
germinate. The parasite then slowly attach to the root of the host by haustoria and
grow below the soil surface and produce under-ground stems and roots, The parasite
becomes visible in about a month after sowing. Severe infestation causes yellowing
and wilting of the host leaves. The infected plants are stunted and lanky in growth
and may die prior to seed setting.
Parasite:
Striga asiatica and S. densiflora. Witch weed is a partial root parasite
and occurs mainly in the rainfed sorghum. It is a small plant with bright green, long,
narrow leaves, grows up to a height of 15-30 cm. It always occurs in clusters of 1020 / host plant. S. asiatica produces red to pink flowers while S. densiflora produces
white flowers. The fruit is a capsule and each fruit contains about 1000 seeds. A
single plant can produce one to five lakhs seeds.
MAIZE
1. Common Smut
Symptoms: The fungus attacks stalks, leaves, ears and tassels. Conspicuous
closed white galls replace individual grains. At times, the galls breakdown and
release black masses of spores, which will infect maize plants in the following
season. The disease is most severe in young actively growing plants and may stunt
or kill them.
Fungus:
echinulate.
2. Head Smut
5. Brown Spot
Symptoms: Fungus produces water-soaked lesions. They are light green at first
which turn to reddish brown and finally to brown. Several spots may coalesce to
form brown blotches. These spots and blotches are found at the basal portion of the
leaf blade. The spots on the midrib are circular and dark brown. It also occurs on
the leaf sheath and stem. When the stem is infected the tissues are weakened. The
stem rots and breaks at the infected point causing lodging.
Fungus:
Physoderma zeae-maydis. The fungus produce coenocytic hyphae
and large number of thick walled spore-like bodies called resting sporangia or resting
spores. They are smooth, brown and flattened at one side. Resting sporangia
germinate and produce uniflagellate zoospores.
6. Leaf Blight
Symptoms: The disease is recognized by the production of slightly oval, watersoaked small spots on the leaves. They grow into elongated spindle shaped necrotic
lesions. They appear first on the lower leaves and continue increasing in size and
number until a complete burning of foliage is seen.
Fungus:
Helminthosporium turcicum (Syn. Exserohilum turcicum, Drechslera
turcica. Mycelium is branched, septate and inter and intra cellular. Conidiophores
arise in group, long, unbranched, septate, geniculate, yellowish brown and smooth.
Conidia are distinctly curved, fusiform, and pale to dark golden brown with 5-11
pseudosepta.
7. Charcoal Stalk Rot
Symptoms: The pathogen invades seedling roots. When plants approach maturity
internal parts of stem show black discolouration and shredding of vascular bundles.
These symptoms are common mainly in lower stalk internodes. On the rind and
vascular bundles of infected plant numerous small, black sclerotia are seen. The
affected plants develop wilting symptoms and they gradually dry up.
Fungus: Macrophomina phaseolina sclerotia; the fungus produces large number of
round and black sclerotia. Pycnidia appear on the stalks. The pycnidiospores are
colourless, oval and single celled.
PEARL MILLET
1. Downy Mildew / Green Ear
3. Smut
Symptoms: The disease becomes apparent at the time of grain setting in the
earhead. The pathogen infects florets and transforms them into large plumby seeds
(sori) containing black powder of smut spores. Young sori are larger and greener
than non-infected developing seed. As the sori mature, they become dark brown and
are easily broken to release millions of black smut spore balls.
Fungus:
Tolyposporium penicillariae. The sorus wall is tough and surrounds
spores. The spores are usually in balls. The number of teleutospores aggregated in
balls varies from 200 to 1400. Individual teleutospores do not separate readily and
are mostly angular or round and light brown. They germinate in water to produce
four celled promycelium bearing the sporidia.
4. Sugary Disease / Ergot
Symptoms: The pathogen infects the florets at the protogyny stage and develops
in the ovaries and produce initially copious creamy pink or red sweet sticky liquid
called honeydew. Honeydew contains millions of conidia. Subsequently long, dark
coloured hard structures called sclerotia develop from infected florets, first dark at the
tip and then becoming completely black.
Fungus:
Claviceps fusiformis (Syn. C. microcephala). Mycelium is septate
which produce closely arranged conidiophores. The fungus produces micro-and
macroconidia. The macroconidia are hyaline, fusiform and single celled. The
microconidia are hyaline, globular and single celled. The macro conidia germinate,
by producing one to three germ tubes, while the microconidia germinate by producing
only one germ tube. Sclerotia are large and appear creamy during early stage and
become black and hard at maturity
SCLEROTIA
5. Leaf Blast
Symptoms: Lesions on leaf blade are roughly diamond shaped to circular up to 1
cm long. The margins are dark brown and the centre is light coloured. Each lesion
has a chlorotic yellow halo. At the centre of the spots, light grey bloom of
conidiophores and conidia are seen.
Fungus: Pyricularia setariae. Mycelium is hyaline to olivaceous and septate.
Conidiophores are long and septate. Conidia are obpyriform to ellipsoid and
attached at the broader base by a hilum, hyaline to pale olive green and three celled.
RAGI
1. Blast
Symptoms: Young seedlings may be blasted or blighted in the nursery bed. The
fungus produces characteristic spindle shaped spots with yellow margins and greyish
green centres on the leaves of grown up plants. Later the centres become grey or
whitish grey. Fungus causes blackening of the nodal regions. The neck infection
causes breaking of the heads. Such earheads bear only chaffy grains.
Fungus:
Pyricularia grisea. The mycelium is septate and hyaline and turns
brown with age. The conidiophores emerge through stomata. They are simple,
septate, dark coloured at the base and lighter above. Conidia are obpyriform,
hyaline, thin walled, three celled with a prominent hilum. The fungus attacks fox tail
millet, pearl millet, Eleusine indica, wheat, barley, maize, oats and Dactyloctenium
aegyptium, while rice and Digitaria marginata are not infected.
2. Seedling Blight / Leaf Blight
Symptoms: The pathogen attacks leaf blade, leaf sheath, culms, roots etc. On
young leaves of seedlings disease appears as minute, light brown, oval spot leading
to premature withering. In grown up plants, oblong, dark brown spots appear on the
leaves. The spots on the leaf sheaths and culms are irregular and are generally
found at the junction of leaf blade and sheath. Infection of the neck causes
discolouration and sooty growth in the inflorescence.
Fungus:
Helminthosporium nodulosum (Syn. Drechslera nodulosum; Sexual
stage. Cochliobolus nodulosus). Hyphae are light brown, thick walled and septate.
Conidiophores are dark brown, branched, geniculate and septate. Conidia are
straight, ovoid, and pale to dark golden brown and up to 18 septate. Perithecia are
black and spherical. Asci are short, straight, and cylindrical and 1-8 spored. The
ascospores are spirally coiled. They are hyaline, filiform and 11 septate. The fungus
can attack Eleusine indica, Dactyloctenium aegyptium, fox tail-millet, Japanese
barnyard millet, maize, pearlmillet, pros millet, sorghum and sugarcane.
3. Green Ear / Downy Mildew / Crazy Top
Symptoms: The infected plants are dwarf with shortened internodes. The leaves
are closely arranged and give bushy and bunchy appearance. The leaves are pale.
The earhead bears abnormal spikelets exhibiting various degrees of proliferation
instead of normal spikelet. The whole earhead gives a bush-like appearance.
Fungus:
Sclerophthora macrospora. The hyphae are inter-cellular, branched
and non-septate. The oospores are globose and thick walled.
4. Smut
Symptoms: Only few grains in an earhead are infected. The affected grains are
converted into enlarged globose sacs, greenish at first, but later become dirty black.
Fungus:
Melanopsichium eleusinis.
spiny or pitted spore wall.
5. Mosaic
Questions to be answered
1. What is sorus?
2. In Sorghum, which pathogen produces spores in ball?
3. Pycnial and aecial stages of Puccinia purpurea are produced in ______________
4. Leaf shredding disease in sorghum is caused by ______________
5. The sexual spore of downy mildew fungus is ______________
6. Asexual fruiting body of anthracnose fungus is ________________
7. Fungal genera which produce conidia on geniculate type conidiophore are _____
8. Anamorph of Claviceps sorghi is _____________
9. Two stages of ergot disease is _____________ and ___________
10. Name two host plants which are infected by Peronosclerospora sorghi
True or False
1. Teleutospores are normally produced at the end of cropping season.
2. Sclerospora graminicola is systemic pathogen
3. Brinjal is an alternative host for pearlmillet rust
Differentiate
1. Ergot and smut of pearlmillet
2. Downy mildew of sorghum and pearlmillet
3. Smut diseases of sorghum
4. Common smut and head smut of maize
5. Pycndia and pycnia
Ex. No. 3
Date:
DISEASES OF PULSES
(Pigeonpea, Blackgram, Greengram and Chickpea)
REDGRAM / PIGEONPEA
1. Wilt
Symptoms: The most characteristic symptom is a purple band extending upwards
from the base of the main stem. Browning of the stem tissue in the region of the
purple band and browning or blackening of xylem vessels when the main stem or
branches is split open are other typical symptoms. The leaves of affected plants turn
yellow prematurely, the foliage droops and within three or four days the plants wilt.
When the young plants (1-2 months old) die from wilt they may not show the purple
band symptoms, but have obvious internal browning and blackening.
Fungus:
Fusarium udum. The mycelium is hyaline, septate and both inter-and
intracellular. The fungus produces both macro-and microconidia. The microconidia
are small, elliptical, and thin walled and single or two celled. The macroconidia are
linear, curved, pointed at both ends and thin walled having 3-4 septa. The
chlamydospores are oval or spherical, single or in chains, terminal or intercalary.
2. Dry Root Rot
Symptoms: Infected plants suddenly and prematurely dry up. When such plants
are uprooted their roots are rotten and shredded. Under hot, humid conditions root
rotting extends to the base of the stem. Early symptoms on stems and branches are
spindle shaped lesions with light grey centres and brown margin with scattered
pycnidial bodies.
Fungus:
Macrophomina phaseolina.
The fungus produces dark brown
filamentous hyphae and constrictions are seen in hyphal branches at the junction
with the main hypha. Sclerotia are jet black, smooth, hard, minute and globose. The
pycnidia are dark brown. Conidiophores are hyaline, short, obpyriform to cylindrical
and develop from the inner walls of the pycnidium, pycnidiospores are hyaline, single
celled and ellipsoid to ovoid.
3. Powdery Mildew
Symptoms: Fungus attacks the leaf, covering it with powdery whitish growth on
lower surface causing premature defoliation. The corresponding upper surface
become chlorotic and then turns yellow. Flowers and pods are also affected on
which white powdery fungal growth can be seen. The fungus causes stunting of
young plants.
Fungus:
Leveillula taurica. Mycelium is hyaline, septate, endophytic and
intercellular.
The fungus produces haustoria in epidermis and in spongy
parenchymatous cells. Conidiophores arise from the internal mycelium singly or in
fascicles through stomatal apertures. They are long, rarely branched and septate,
which produces single celled, clavate or club shaped conidium.
4. Stem Blight / Phytophthora Blight
Symptoms: Initially purple to dark brown necrotic lesions girdle the basal portion of
the stem and later may occur on aerial parts of the seedlings. Initially lesions are
small and smooth, later enlarging and slightly depressed. Infected tissue becomes
soft and whole plant wilts. In leaf, localized yellowing starts from tip and margin and
gradually extends towards the mid-rib. The centre of the spots later turns brown and
hard. The spots increase in size and cover a major portion of the lamina, leading to
drying.
Fungus:
Phytophthora drechsleri f.sp. cajani.
Mycelium is hyaline and
coenocytic. Sporangia are hyaline, ovate or pyriform and non-papillate. Each
sporangium produces 8-20 zoospores. Oospores are globose, light brown, smooth
and thick walled.
5. Leaf Spot
Symptoms: The spots on leaves are small, light brown later it becomes dark
brown and the infected portions drop off leaving shot hold symptoms. When several
spots join together, irregular necrotic blotches develop and premature defoliation
occurs.
Fungus:
Cercospora indica. Mycelium is inter-and intracellular. Conidiophores
are light brown when young and dark brown when mature. 3Conidia are whip like,
hyaline and 7-9 septate.
6. Sterility Mosaic
Symptoms: The diseased plants show malformed leaves which are thin, crinkled
small with mosaic symptoms. The leaves are crowded and the axillary buds are
stimulated resulting in a bushy growth. The entire plant is stunted with shortened
internodes. The diseased plants are invariably sterile causing severe losses in grain
yield. The diseased plants remain green till harvest.
Causal agent: Virus. The disease is transmitted by the eriophyid mite, Aceria cajani.
3. Powdery Mildew
Symptoms: A white powdery growth occurs on the leaves spreading to cover the
stem and other plants parts. The symptoms are severe at flowering stage. In severe
cases the entire plant dries up.
Fungus:
Erysiphe polygoni. The fungus is an ectoparasite spreading on the
surface of the host and sending haustoria into the epidermal cells to draw out
nutrients. The conidiophores are simple, single celled, hyaline and bear chains of
conidia. Conidia are hyaline, elliptical or barrel shaped, single celled and thin walled.
Cleistothecia are short, black, round with myceloid appendages and bear 2 to 8 asci.
Asci are ovate and sessile. Each ascus contains 3 to 8 hyaline, single celled and
elliptical ascospores.
4. Rust
Symptoms: The fungus produces characteristic rust pustules both on the upper
and lower leaf surfaces. The pustules are mostly found on the leaf blade, petiole and
stem. The pustules appear as tiny lightcoloured flecks or spots. In a few days they
become dark reddish-brown, circular pustules about the size of a pinhead. Several
sori coalesce to cover a larger area of the blade. In severe infections the leaf may
wither resulting in considerable damage to the crop.
Fungus:
Uromyces phseoli-typica (Syn. U. appendiculatus). The fungus is an
obligate parasite and autoecious in nature. Uredial stage repeats several times.
Uredospores are unicellular, globoid or ellipsoid, yellowish brown with echinulations.
The teliospores are globose or elliptical, unicellular, chestnut brown with warty and
with hyaline papilla at the top. Aecia are cup shaped; orange coloured and
aeciospores are unicellular and elliptical.
5. Leaf Spot
Symptoms: Small, circular spots develop on the leaves with grey centre and
brown margin. Several spots coalesce to form brown irregular lesions. In severe
cases, defoliation occurs. As the disease advances, lesions are developed on stems
and pods.
Fungi: Cercospora capeskins and C. cruenta.
Mycelia are both inter-and
intracellular in the host tissue. C. canescens produces dark and long, straight or
slightly curved multiseptate conidiophores. The conidia of
C. canescens are
whip like, hyaline, straight or curved, thin walled and 5-6 septate, borne singly at the
tip of the conidiophores.
6. Yellow Mosaic
Symptoms: Initially small yellow patches appear on leaves.
The yellow
discolouration slowly increases and newly formed leaves may completely turn yellow.
In severe case the diseased leaves become white and thin. The infected plants
normally mature later and bear a very few flowers and pods. Early infection causes
death of plants before seed set.
Causal agent: Mungbean yellow mosaic virus (MYMV). It is transmitted by the
whitefly, Bemisia tabaci. It survives in the self-sown plants, weed hosts and other
cultivated hosts.
7. Leaf Crinkle
Symptoms: The symptoms appear initially on young leaves. The enlargement of
third trifoliate leaf is seen 4 to 5 weeks after sowing. After a week of first symptoms
crinkling of leaves becomes conspicuous later crinkling and curling of tip of leaflets
are seen. The petioles and internodes are shortened. Infected plants give a bushy
and stunted appearance. Flowering is delayed. Inflorescence if formed is malformed
with small sized flower buds and flower buds fail to open.
Causal agent:
Urdbean leaf crinkle virus (ULCV). The virus is seed-borne
and primary infection occurs through infected seeds. Secondary spread is by the
insect vector, Bemisia tabaci. A.gossypii and A. craccivora also transmit the disease.
The virus is also sap transmissible.
CHICKPEA / BENGALGRAM
1. Blight
Symptoms: The disease symptoms appear first on leaves as water soaked lesions
which later develop into round spots with brown margin and yellowish to grey centre.
Similar spots may also appear on stem and pods. In advanced stages several spots
on the leaves and pods may coalesce to blight the plant. When the lesions are
produced on stem, the portion above the point of attack rapidly dies.
Fungus:
Ascochyta rabiei. The fungus produces innumerable spherical to pear
shaped pycnidia with prominent ostiole on the infected tissues. Pycnidiospores are
oval, one or two celled, thin walled and hyaline. The perithecia are globose, dark
brown or black and ostiolate. Asci are cylindrical, curved and pedicellate.
ascospores are hyaline, thin walled, elliptical and two celled.
The
2. Rust
Symptoms: The disease appears first as small, oval, brown raised lesions on both
the surfaces of leaves and more on lower surface. Uredosori appear in large
numbers as the disease advances and the entire leaf area may be covered with rust
pustules. Severely infected plants dry up prematurely.
Fungus:
Uromyces ciceris-arietini. The fungus produces uredial and telial
stages on Bengal gram. Uredospores are spherical, brownish yellow with echinulate
spore wall with 4-8 germ pores. Teliospores are round to oval, brown, single celled
with unthickened apex and rough, brown and warty wall.
3. Wilt
Symptoms: The disease occurs at two stages of crop growth, seedling stage and
flowering stage. The chief symptoms in seedling are yellowing and drying of leaves
from base upwards, drooping of petioles and rachis, browning of 3vascular bundles
and finally wilting of plants. In adult plants, drooping of leaves is observed initially in
upper part of plants and soon observed in entire plant. Dark brown or black
discolouration is noticed below and above collar region. Vascular browning is
conspicuously seen as black streaks on the stem and root portion below the bark.
Fungus:
Fusarium oxysporum f.sp. ciceri. Mycelium is hyaline and septate.
Microconidia are hyaline, oval to cylindrical and single celled. Macroconidia are thin
walled, 3 to 5 septate, fusoid and pointed at both the ends. Chlamydospores are
rough or smooth walled, terminal or intercalary formed singly or in chains.
4. Root Rot
Symptoms: A dark brown lesion develops on the stem near ground level. The
infected seedling slowly turn yellow and petioles and leaflets show drooping, leads to
complete drying of the plant. The stem near the collar region and below shows
rotting symptom. The black dead tissues contain sclerotia.
Fungus:
Macrophomina phaseolina. Mycelium is dark brown, filamentous and
septate. The sclerotia are brown or black and irregular or round.
5. Stunt
Symptoms: Affected plants are stunted and bushy with short internodes. The
leaflets are smaller with yellow, orange or brown discolouration. Stem also shows
brown discolouration. The plants dry prematurely. Phloem browning in the collar
region is the most characteristic symptom of the stunt leaving xylem normal.
Causal agent: Bean (pea) leaf roll virus. It is transmitted by Aphis craccivora and
A. pisum.
Questions to be answered
1. The sclerotial stage of Macrophomina phaseolina is _________________
2. Name the sexual and asexual spores of Phytophthora
3. Asexual fruiting body of anthracnose pathogen is ___________
4. What is autoecious rust? Give an example
5. An example for seed-borne virus in pulses is _____________
6. Sexual stage of Colletotrichum lindemuthianum is __________________
7. The asexual fruiting body of Macrophomina phaseolina is ________________
Differentiate
1. Wilt and dry root rot of pigeonpea
2. Powdery mildew of pigeonpea and blackgram
3. Sterility mosaic of pigeonpea and yellow mosaic of blackgram
4. Yellow mosaic and leaf crinkle of blackgram
Ex. No. 4
Date:
DISEASES OF OILSEEDS
(Groundnut, Gingelly, Castor and Sunflower)
GROUNDNUT
1. Aspergillus Crown Rot
Symptoms: Seeds may be attacked and killed leading to a pre-emergence rotting.
Ungerminated seeds from the soil show masses of black conidia which give them a
sooty appearance. Post-emergence infection results in death and rapid decay of
seedlings. The first symptom in emerged seedlings is rapid desiccation of the entire
plant. The sporulating fungus at the soil surface covers affected tissues. As the
infection progresses, the entire collar region becomes dark brown and shredded.
Seedling infection commonly occurs in the cotyledonary-hypocotyl region just after
emergence. The infected areas become water-soaked and light brown and are soon
covered with black fungal spores. Lesions develop on the stem just below the soil
surface and then spread upward along the branches that will results in wilting of
branches. The fungus sporulates on the surface of mature pods resulting in patches
of black sooty spores.
Fungus:
Aspergillus niger. The mycelium is hyaline to subhyaline, conidia are
dark brown to black, globose to radiate and are in chains. The conidiophores are
septate, smooth, and thick-walled and are hyaline to olive brown. The vesicles are
globose, thick-walled and hyaline to brown. The sterigmata are typically in two-series
i.e., primary and secondary.
b. Pod rot:
Pegs colonized by S. rolfsii, show light to dark brown lesions. They
later become shredded and pods become detached and are left in the soil at harvest.
Pods are also attacked. Affected young pods show light tan coloured lesions. Pods
are completely covered with a white mycelia mat. The seeds from diseased pods
show characteristic bluish-grey discolouration of the testa, known as blue damage.
This is caused by the production of oxalic acid by the pathogen.
Fungus:
Sclerotium rolfsii (Corticium rolfsii; Pellicularia rolfsii; Aethalia rolfsii).
Mycelium is septate and hyaline with conspicuous branching at acute angles. The
hyphae have clamps in the some of forks and hooks or H-like connections. Sclerotia
are light brown to dark brown and subspherical. The important characters of the
basidial stage are: Hymenium is at first coarsely areolate, becoming more dense
continuous or fleshy layer and white to grey in colour. Basidia are obovoid each
bearing 2 to 4 parallel or divergent sterigmata that bear basidiospore. Basidiospores
are hyaline, smooth, elliptical to obovate, round to point at the base and apiculate.
3. Dry Root Rot
Symptoms: The pathogen infects ground nut and produces reddish brown watersoaked lesions on the stem just above soil level. Later the lesion darkens and
disease spread. The affected stem is girdled and the plant wilts. In the dead tissue
of the plant many brown sclerotia are noticed. The roots are also affected and they
rot and disintegrate. Root bark peed off when the affected plants are pulled out. Dry
rot affected plants turn black and found rotten. In the pods the shells as well as
kernels are affected. Due to infection in the kernel the fungus grows between the
cotyledons. The fungal hyphae spread to form a white mat of mycelium over the
kernels and later they turn grey and eventually black. Finally they are covered with
many minute sclerotia. Black nut symptom is often noticed in between the
cotyledons and cannot be seen outside. When the affected kernel is split open
blacknut symptom can be seen.
Fungus:
Macrophomina phaseolina. The mycelium is coloured, septate and
branched. The sclerotia are blue to black and spherical to irregular.
4. Early and Late Leaf Spots
Symptoms: a. Early leaf spot:
Lesions are sub-circular in shape. They are
dark brown in colour on the upper leaf surface where most sporulation occurs and a
lighter shade of brown on the lower surface. The early leaf spot usually has a light to
dark brown center and a yellow halo. Fruiting structures are on upper leaf surface.
When disease is severe, leaflets become chlorotic and then necrotic lesions coalesce
and leaflets are shed.
b. Late leaf spot: Lesions are circular to sub-circular in shape. All lesions are dark
brown to black. On the lower leaf surface, where most sporulation occurs, the
lesions are black in colour. Fruiting structures are in concentric rings on the lower
leaf surface. Lesions on other parts are similar to that of early leaf spot.
Fungi: Early leaf spot - Cercospora arachidicola (Perfect stage: Mycosphaerella
arachidicola); Late leaf spot - Phaeoisariopsis personata (Syn. Cercosporidium
personatum, Cercospora personata; Perfect stage, Mycosphaerella berkeleyii).
a. Cercospora arachidicola:
Conidiophores are pale olivaceous or yellowish
brown and darker at the base and unbranched. Conidia are subhyaline, slightly
olivaceous, obclavate, often curved and 3 to 12 septate. Perithecia are erumpent,
globose, black, ostiolate and slightly papillate. Asci are cylindrical or club shaped,
short stipitate, bitunicate and 8-spored. Ascospores are bicelled, the upper cell some
what larger, slightly curved and hyaline.
b. Cercospora personata: The conidiophores are long, 1-2 septate, geniculate;
arise in clusters and olive brown. The conidia are hyaline to olive brown, straight or
slightly curved and 1-9 septate. Perithecia are globose or ovate, papillate and
ostiolate. Asci are cylindrical and contain 8 ascospores. The ascospores are hyaline
and two celled.
5. Rust
Symptoms: Orange-coloured circular pustules appear on the lower surface of leaf.
Pustules are formed on the upper surface of the leaf and petiole also. Pustules may
also formed on shells of developing pods. Leaves infected with rust become necrotic
and dry up and remain attached to the plant.
Fungus:
Puccinia arachidis. Only uredial and telial stages are known.
Uredospores are ellipsoid or obovoid, wall is brown in colour, finely echinulated, with
two germ pores which nearly equatorial. Teliospores are oblong or obovate or
ellipsoidal or ovate, with rounded to acute and thickened apex, constricted in the
middle, gradually attenuate at the base or more or less rounded attenuate at both
ends, smooth-walled, light yellow or golden yellow or chestnut brown and two-celled.
6. Phoma Blight
Symptoms: Light tan coloured to dark brown bigger spots appear on the leaves.
The margin of the spots are dark brown and with central light brown coloured region.
Halo formation surrounding the leaf spot is also observed. The pycnidia are seen on
the necrosed area. Stem legions are irregular, dark brown or greyish with dark brown
and well defined margins.
Fungus:
Phoma microspora. Mycelium is septate, hyaline or olive brown.
Chlamydospores are terminal or intercalary, single or in chain, globose or irregular,
one celled, immersed, ostiolate and globose. Conidia are hyaline, smooth walled,
globose and one celled.
7. Web Blotch
Symptoms: Scattered tan coloured specks or streaks forming a webbed pattern
are seen on the upper leaf surface. The discoloured areas expand and form large,
circular purplish brown to dark brown blotches, which have inconspicuous margins.
These blotches often coalesce and cover entire leaflets. Advanced lesions are
almost black with a roughened surface. They become dry and crack irregularly.
Fungus:
Didymella arachidicola. Pycnidia are pale to dark brown, globose to
flask-shaped, ostiolate and immersed in leaf tissues. Pycnidiospores are hyaline,
smooth-walled, and subglobose with rounded ends.
Causal agent:
Tomato spotted wilt virus (TSWV). It is transmitted by thrips
like Thrips tabaci, Frankliniella schultzei, F. occidentalis, F. fusca, Scirtothrips
dorsalis, Thrips palmi and T. setosus.
GINGELLY
1. Charcoal rot / Root or stem rot
Symptoms: The pathogen attacks the stem at the collar region. The symptoms
include yellowing of lower of leaves and drooping and defoliation of leaves. The
infected portion rots and turns to a characteristic black colour. Abundant dot-like
black structures (pycnidia or sclerotia) are produced on the inflected area. Diseased
plants can be pulled out very easily from the soil. If the disease attacks mostly the
plants nearing maturity, filling of pods and maturity of seeds are highly impaired.
Fungus:
Macrophomina phaseolina (Sclerotial stage: Rhizoctonia bataticola).
The fungus produces dark brown septate mycelium. Mycelium shows constrictions
at the hyphal junctions. The sclerotia are black. Pycnidia are dark brown with a
prominent ostiole. The pycnidiospores are hyaline, elliptical and single celled.
2. Fusarium wilt
Symptoms: Leaves become yellowish, droop and desiccate. Sometimes leaves in
wilting plants show inward rolling of the edges and eventually dry up. The terminal
portion dries up and become shrink and bent over. In less severe infection few
branches may develop symptoms of wilt resulting in partial wilting. In matured plants
appearance of reddish brown discolouration of the plant from the root to the apex is
the characteristic symptom of the disease. Later these streaks become black in
colour. Under humid conditions pinkish growth can be seen on the discoloured area.
Discolouration of the vascular system is conspicuous in the roots. In the later stages,
roots show rotting symptom.
Fungus:
3. White spot
Symptoms: Small, circular 5 mm dia spots are scattered in the surface of the leaf.
The spots are with whitish centre surrounded by blotch. Under humid conditions the
disease spreads quickly and leads to premature defoliation. The spots on petioles
are elongated and on the capsule they are more or less circular and brown to black.
Fungus:
Cercospora sesami. Conidia are hyaline, slightly curved, indistinctly
multiseptate.
4. Powdery Mildew
Symptom: The disease appears as small white powdery growth on the upper
surface of leaves. These spots coalesce to form large patches finally covering the
entire leaf surface with powdery fungal growth. In severe cases, infection is seen on
the flowers and young capsules. Seriously diseased plants shed their leaves
prematurely. Under favourable conditions the white mycelial growth changes to dark
grey or black colour due to the formation of cleistothecia.
Fungus:
Erysiphe cichoracearum (Oidium acanthospermi).
The fungus
produces hyaline, septate and ectophytic mycelium. Conidiophores are short and
non-septate. Conidia are hyaline, single celled and ellipsoid or barrel-shaped. The
cleistothecia are dark and globose with hyaline or pale brown myceloid appendages.
Asci are ovate. Each ascus contains 2 to 3 ascospores. Ascospores are thin walled,
elliptical and pale brown.
5. Alternaria leaf blight
Symptoms: Reddish brown lesion is circular, water-soaked and found on the
foliage of seedlings. They enlarge in size and become circular in shape and often
have concentric zonation on the upper leaf surface. Lesions may coalesce to form
large necrotic areas and defoliation results. Dark brown lesions appear on the
petioles and stem. Lesions may spread to entire length of the stem. Dark brown
lesions on the capsules result in premature splitting with shriveled and poorly
matured seeds.
Fungus:
Alternaria sesami. The mycelium is dull brown, septate and produces
large number of conidiophores. Conidiophores are simple, cylindrical and light
brown. Conidia are ellipsoid, muriform (6-11 transverse septa), light brown with
simple or branched beak and borne singly or in chains of two.
6. Phyllody
Symptoms: Affected plants are stunted and the entire plant shows phyllody
symptoms. The inflorescence is replaced by a growth consisting of short, twisted
leaves closely arranged on the stem with very short internodes.
The most characteristic symptom of the disease is transformation of flower
parts into green leaf-like structures. The calyx becomes polysepalous. The sepals
CASTOR
1. Seedling blight
Symptoms: The disease appears as circular, dull green patch on both the surfaces
of cotyledon leaves. It later spreads and causes rotting. The infection moves to
stem and causes withering and death of seedling. In mature plants, the infection
initially appears on the young leaves and spreads to petiole and stem causing black
discolouration.
Fungus:
Phytophthora parasitica.
Mycelium is hyaline and non-septate.
Sporangiophores are borne singly or in groups, unbranched and bear single celled,
hyaline, round or oval shaped papillate sporangia at the tip singly. Each sporangium
contains 5-45 zoospores, which are reniform and biflagellate. Oospores are round
and hyaline. The chlamydospores are spherical, thick walled, smooth, yellow and
terminal or intercalary.
2. Rust
Symptoms: Minute, orange-yellow coloured, raised pustules appear with powdery
masses on the lower surface of the leaves and the corresponding areas of the upper
surface of the leaves are yellow. Often the pustules are grouped in concentric rings
and coalesce together and cause drying of leaves.
Fungus:
Melampsora ricini. Uredospores are of two kinds, one is thick walled
and the other is thin walled. They are elliptical to round, orange yellow and finely
warty.
3. Leaf blight
Symptoms: Irregular brown spots with concentric rings appear initially on the
leaves and covered with fungal growth. Later the spots coalesce to form big patches
and pre-mature defoliation occurs. The stem, inflorescence and capsules also show
dark brown lesions with concentric rings. On the capsules, initially brown sunken
spots appear which enlarge rapidly and cover the whole pod. The capsules crack
and seeds are also getting infected.
Fungus:
Alternaria ricini. The pathogen produces erect or slightly curved, light
grey to brown conidiophores, which are occasionally in groups. Conidia are
produced in chains. They are obclavate, light olive with 5-16 cells having transverse
and longitudinal septa and are with a beak at the tip.
SUNFLOWER
1. Alternaria blight
Symptoms: Dark brown to black, circular to oval spots surrounded by chlorotic
zone are seen on the leaves. Concentric rings are visible. Linear necrotic lesions
are formed on the petioles. Under high humidity, spots enlarge in size, coalesce and
cause blighting of leaves and defoliation. Rotting of flower heads is also seen.
Fungus:
Alternaria helianthi. Conidiophores are simple, cylindrical, straight or
curved and septate. Conidia are pale green-yellow, cylindrical to ellipsoid, straight
with rounded ends without beak, having 2-12 transverse septa and 0-1 longitudinal
septa.
2. Rust
Symptoms: Numerous small pustules (uredosori) appear on the lower surface of
the bottom leaves. These uredosori are scattered, irregular, cinnamon to brown and
up to one mm in dia. Infection later spreads to the upper leaves and including leaves
below the capitulum. In severe infections numerous pustules appear in each leaf
leading to yellowing and drying of the leaves. Telia, which are black, also seen
among uredia in the lower surface of leaves.
Fungus:
Puccinia helianthi. It is an autoecious rust. Uredospores are
ellipsoid to obovoid or cylindrical with finely echinulated wall. Teleutospores are
cylindrical. Pycnia are found in groups. Aecia are in groups around the pycnia
cupulate. Aeciospores are ellipsoid, hyaline with verrucose walls.
3. Head rot
Symptoms: The disease occurs in the plants at heading stage and during grain
formation. The affected heads show water-soaked lesion on the lower surface which
later turns to brown. The infection spreads from head to stalk. In advanced cases
the head becomes soft and pulpy with putrification of tissues. The insects and larvae
which feed on the developing seeds pave the way for the entry of the fungi. The
seeds in the diseased heads are converted into black mass and ill filled. Viability of
seeds is highly reduced.
Fungus:
Rhizopus nigricans. Mycelium is coenocytic and has aerial branches
called stolons. Sporangiophores develop opposite to the rhizoids in cluster. Each
sporangiophore bears a single terminal sporangium. Sporangia are large, blackish
with well developed columella. The sporangiospores are oval and pigmented and
typically marked by striations. Zygospores are provided with black, thick, several
layered wall.
4. Charcoal rot and root rot
Symptoms: Affected seedling show a brown or ashy black discolouration at the
collar region, which finally girdles the stem to about 3 to 6 cm and their leaves
become dull in appearance. Gradually the lesion turns black, the plant dies within a
week and its peeled tissues become studded with numerous black sclerotial bodies.
If the infection occurs in the later stage of the crop, the plant shows initial paling and
drying of leaves and root rot. The most common symptom in the field is sudden
wilting of plants usually after flowering. Black sclerotial bodies can be seen in the
root portion where pycnidia bodies can be seen.
Fungus:
Macrophomina phaseolina (Sclerotial stage. Rhizoctonia bataticola).
The fungus produces a large number of black, round to irregular sclerotia. Pycnidia
are dark brown to black with an ostiole and contain numerous single celled, thin
walled, hyaline and elliptical pycnidiospores.
Questions to be answered
1. Pathogen responsible for bluish grey discolouration of groundnut kernel is ______
2. Shredding of bark is common in ________________ disease
3. Pycnidial stage of Rhizoctonia bataticola is _________________
4. TSWV infects ______________ and ___________ crops
5. Two types of conidia produced by Fusarium wilt pathogen are ______ and ______
6. Spots with concentric rings are the characteristic symptoms of _________
True or False
1. Bud necrosis is transmitted by whitefly, Bemisia tabaci
SUGARCANE
COTTON
1. Seedling Blight
Symptoms: The symptoms include pre-germination decay of seed (pre-emergence
damping off), decay of seedling (post-emergence damping-off), and partial or
complete girdling of the emerged seedlings at or near the soil surface and seedling
root rot.
Fungi: Pythium sp., Fusarium moniliforme, F.oxysporum, F. roseum, Rhizoctonia
solani (Thanatephorus cucumeris) and Macrophomina phaseolina.
2. Fusarium wilt
Symptoms: The earliest symptom appears on the seedlings in the cotyledons,
which become yellow and then brown. The base of petiole shows brown central ring
followed by wilting and drying of the seedling. In adult plants, the first symptom is
yellowing of margins of leaves and area around the veins i.e. discolouration starts
from the margin and spread towards the midrib. The leaves lose their turgidity,
gradually turn brown and droop. Symptoms start from the older leaves at the base,
followed by the younger one towards the top, finally involving the branches and the
whole plant or wilting may be complete leaving the stem alone standing in the field.
Sometimes partial wilting on a branch occurs. Blackening or browning of vascular
tissues is the other important symptom. Black streaks or stripes may be seen
extending upwards to the branches and downwards to lateral roots. In a transverse
section of a diseased branch, discoloured ring is seen in the woody tissues of stem.
Fungus: Fusarium oxysporum f.sp. vasinfectum. Mycelium is septate. Microconidia
are unicellular or bicellular, ellipsoidal and borne on lateral phialides or on phialides
produced from short lateral conidiophores. Macroconidia are fusiform (falcate),
curved inwards at both end, pedicellate and 4-5 septate. Chlamydospores are
terminal and intercalary, single or in chains, hyaline and smooth to rough walled.
Verticillium wilt
6. Alternaria blight
Symptoms: On the leaves dull brown, round or circular spots are seen. Older spots
may coalesce and produce large and irregular dead areas with concentric rings.
Severely infected plants show defoliation. Cankers developing on the stem leads to
cracking and breaking of the stem. The bolls develop lesions resembling to those on
the leaves.
Fungus: Alternaria macrospora (Syn: A. longipedicellata). Mycelium is dark and
septate. Conidiophores are single or in groups, erect, simple straight or flexuous,
almost cylindrical or tapering slightly towards the apex, septate, pale-to mid-brown,
smooth, with one to several conidial scars. Conidia are solitary or sometimes in
twos, straight or curved, obclavate or with the body of the conidium ellipsoidal
tapering abruptly to a very narrow beak which is equal in length to or up to twice as
long as the body, reddish-brown, minutely verruculose, with 4 to 8 transverse and
several longitudinal or oblique septa, often slightly constricted at septa.
7. Myrothecium blight
Symptoms: Light brown to tan coloured with violet to reddish brown margins are
seen on the leaves. With the advancement of the disease, the spots increase in the
size and coalesce together involving more leaf area. One or two concentric rings of
sporodochia can be seen on the spots. Sporodochia are of pin head size and dark
green or greenish black in colour. Leaves exhibit irregular holes or shot holes. The
leaves affected in the margin exhibit holes resembling that of ash weevil damage.
The lesions on bracts are broader with a narrow reddish violet margin. In severe
cases spotting on the stem causes breaking. Under severe conditions, the lint gets
stained yellow to light brown.
Fungus:
Myrothecium roridum. Mycelium is white or rosy buff or yellow.
Conidiophores are hyaline, cylindrical, branched below and then into 2 to 3 branches
bearing phialides, closely compacted to form a subhymenial layer. Phialides in
whorls of 2 to 5 at the apex of conidiophore branches, mostly cylindrical rarely slightly
clavate, hyaline closely compacted into parallel rows forming a dense hymenial layer.
Spores (conidia) are rod-shaped with rounded ends, smooth walled, hyaline to
olivaceous, black, in mass and guttulate.
8. Cercospora leaf spot
Symptoms: The spots are round or irregular, yellowish brown with purple, dark
brown or black border and white centres. Later the spots coalesce with each other.
In older spots the centre may crack and break away and leave a ragged margin.
Severely affected leaves become paler, wither and defoliate. Masses of conidia
appear as dusty shading on the upper and lower surfaces to dead tissue in the old
spots.
Fungus:
Cercospora gossypina (Perfect stage: Mycosphaerella gossypina).
Mycelium is septate and intercellular. Conidiophores emerge through stomata in
fasicles, flexuous, dark brown, septate, irregularly bent near the tip. Conidia are
hyaline, long, slender, curved, and narrow towards the tip and rounded at the base
and 5 to 7 septate. Perithecia are ovate, black partly immersed in the leaf tissues;
ostiole protrudes out of either surface. Ascospores are light, elliptical or broadly,
fusoid, one-septate, hyaline to greenish, two celled often unequal and narrowed at
the septum.
9. Tropical rust
Symptoms: Epiphyllous uredia are formed in small, purplish brown spots and they
coalesce to form larger patches. Uredia are oval and corky at first and later at
maturity become circular. The infection may spread to the entire leaf. In later stages,
rust pustules can be seen on the bolls also. Severe infestation leads to defoliation.
Fungus: Phakopsora gossypii (Syn: P. desmium). Uredia are subepidermal and
erumpent. Uredospores are echinulated and borne singly, light yellow, oval or
broadly with short spines. Telia are subepidermal but not erumpent and appear as
powdery, light cinnamon-brown dots. Teliospores are sessile but not echinulated,
irregularly arranged, one celled with one germ pore and the wall is pigmented, pale
golden brown, cylindrical and 4 to 7 septate.
10. Anthracnose
Symptoms: The fungus infects the seedlings and produces small reddish or light
coloured circular spots on the cotyledons and primary leaves. The lesions on the
collar region are elongated and reddish brown in colour. Sometimes the lesions may
extend down to the roots. Such affected seedling wilts and dies. In matured
seedlings the fungus attacks the stem leading to stem splitting and shredding of bark.
The wood becomes brown, resulting in wilting of the seedlings.
Small water-soaked, circular, reddish brown, slightly depressed spots are
seen on the bolls. As the lesions grow in size, their centres become black. The
disease attacks bracts, rapidly enlarge and extend to the bolls. The lint is stained
yellow or brown becomes a solid brittle mass of fibre. The infected bolls cease to
grow, burst and dry up prematurely. Badly affected seeds are light brown, poorly
developed and usually do not germinate.
d. Black arm:
On the stem and fruiting branches, dark brown to black lesions
are formed, which may girdle the stem and branches to cause premature dropping off
of leaves, cracking of stem and gummosis resulting in breaking of the stem and hang
typically as dry black twig to give a characteristic black arm symptom.
e. Boll rot:
Basal infection of flower buds and young bolls cause them to fall off
prematurely. The infected area appears as small, dark green water-soaked area.
They are slightly raised and round in outline in contrast to the angular lesions on
leaves. The boll lesions gradually enlarge, turn black and become sunken as the
tissue dies. At this stage, saprophytic organisms may attack the bolls, thus causing
boll rot and gummosis. The infected bolls fail to open and if they open, the lint quality
becomes poor. The seeds in the bolls are reduced in size and their viability is lost.
Bacterium: Xanthomonas campestris pv. malvacearum. It is rod-shaped, Gramnegative and motile by a single polar flagellum. It is not acid fast. It is non-spore
former and capsulated. It is a facultative aerobe.
SUGARCANE
1. Damping off
Symptoms:
In pre-emergence damping off, germinating seeds or young
seedlings are killed before they reach the soil surface. Radicle and plumule are
attacked and show complete rotting in the soil. In post emergence- damping off, the
seedlings are attacked near the ground level soon after their emergence from the
soil. Infected stem tissues become soft and water-soaked and the affected seedlings
topple down. The roots show reddish brown discolouration.
Fungi: Pythium aphanidermatum, P.ultimum, P.arrhenomanes and
graminicola.
P.
2. Wilt
Symptoms: The earliest symptom of the disease is stunting, yellowing of crown
leaves. The canes may wither in groups. The midribs of all leaves in a crown turn
yellow while the leaf lamina remains green. The leaves dry up. The canes become
light in weight and hollow, when tissues in the lowest internodes show a brick red
colour with reddish individual vascular strands. There are no white transverse bands
as in red rot. Brown patches on the rind are formed and underlying tissues die. The
pathogen ramifies in the reddened pith making it to become hollow. In severe cases
spindle shaped cavities tapering towards the nodes develop in each internode. Fluffy
growth of the fungus with conidia covers the cavity.
Fungus:
Cephalosporium sacchari. Mycelium is white and sparsely septate.
The conidiophores are septate tapering towards the apex, simple or vertically
branched. The conidia are hyaline, ovoid or oblong, ellipsoid without septation.
3. Pine apple disease / Sett rot
Symptoms:
The fungus enters through cut ends of the setts and spreads
rapidly through parenchymatous tissues. The affected tissues first become reddened
but remain firm for sometime. Affected setts when split longitudinally (in early stage
of the disease) will emit an odour resembling that of fresh pine apple fruit. Then the
core in the internode becomes hollow and black in colour. The black colour is due to
presence of large number of macroconidia which are dark coloured. The setts may
decay before the buds germinate or the shoots may die back after reaching a height
of 15 to 30 cm. The leaves of the affected stalks may wilt and badly affected shoots
become stunted, leaves become chlorotic and frequently the diseased plants die.
Fungus:
Ceratostomella paradoxa (Syn: Ceratocystis paradoxa, Ophiostoma
paradoxa, Thielaviopsis paradoxa). The mycelium is hyaline or light brown. In the
imperfect stage, two kinds of spores viz,. microspores (microconidia) are rectangular
to slightly oval, thin walled and hyaline at first and become brown later. These
spores are produced endogenously and are pushed out of the conidiophores in long
chains. Conidiophores are slender, septate, arise laterally from hyphae and are
hyaline to pale. And the macrospores (macroconidia) are larger, produced in chains
or in single. Conidiophores are thick walled and brown. Perithecia are immersed,
light brown, globose and ornamented with numerous septate coralloid appendages.
Ascospores are ellipsoid with unequally curved sides, 1-celled and smooth.
4. Red rot
Symptoms: The third or fourth leaf withers away at the tip and along the margins.
Later the whole crown may wither away in eight to twelve days. Typical symptoms of
red rot are observed in the internodes of the stalk by splitting it longitudinally. These
include the reddening of internal tissues with white spots which are usually elongated
at right angles to the long axis of the stalk. The presence of these cross-wise white
patches is considered as a diagnostic character of the disease. Minute red spots
also appear in the centre of the mid-rib and develop both direction forming small or
long lesions. The lesion is initially blood red with dark margins and later on with
straw coloured centres. Often the infected leaves may break at the lesions and hang
down with large number of minute black dots.
Fungus:
Colletotrichum falcatum (Syn: Physalospora tucumanensis).
Perithecia are immersed, single or aggregated often in short lines between vascular
bundles, globose, dark brown to black and ostiolate. Asci are clavate, unitunicate
and 8-spored. Ascospores are one-celled, hyaline, straight or slightly curved and
ellipsoid or ovoid. Paraphyses are numerous, septate, simple and filiform. Acervuli
are round to elongate. Setae are simple, smooth, non-septate or septate, brown,
slightly swollen at the base and tapered towards the apex. Conidiophores are
hyaline to brown, septate, branched at the base, smooth, formed from the upper cells
of the acervulus. Conidia are falcate, hyaline and one-celled.
5. Smut / Whip smut
Symptoms: Affected plants are stunted and it is characterized by the production of
a long whip-like structure from the terminal bud of the stalk. Initially it is white but
later becomes black and dusty. The whip-like structure is few centimeters to several
centimeters in length and sometimes coiled or curved back on itself. On the outside
there is a white, thin membrane (host epidermis). As the disease progresses, the
membrane rupture exposing millions of minute, black smut spores (teliospores or
chlamydospores). The leaves are usually small and are formed closer and
sometimes scale-like buds are present on the lower nodes. These plants tiller
excessively and all plants in a stool thus formed, including the tillers are infected with
smut. The smutted clumps also produce mummified arrows in which lower portion
consisted of a normal inflorescence with typical flowers and the upper portion of the
rachis is converted into a typical smut whip. Smut sori are occasionally seen on
leaves and stem.
Fungus:
Ustilago scitaminea. The mycelium is intercellular and collects as a
dense mass between the vascular bundles of host cell and produces many tiny black
spores, covered by a white, thin silvery membrane. Smut spores are spherical, light
brown and germinate to produce 3-4 celled hyaline promycelium and produce 3-4
sporidia. Sporidia are single celled, hyaline and oval with pointed ends. Sporidia
may multiply by budding.
6. Rust
Symptoms: The sori are minute, elongated, yellowish which are visible on both the
leaf surfaces. These sori increase in size, mainly in length and turn brown to orange
brown in colour, meanwhile gaining a light but definite but narrow pale yellow green
halo. Uredia are confined mainly to the lower leaf surface.
The uredia are
subepidermal and rupture the epidermis under pressure to release the dense masses
of orange coloured uredospores. Uredia occur on leaf sheath also and the entire
foliage looks brownish from a distance. Later in the season, dark brown to black telia
appear on the lower surface of the leaves.
Fungi: Puccinia melanocephala (Syn. P. erianthi) and P. kuehnii (Uromyces kuehnii).
In P. melanocephala, the uredospores are orange to orange brown, oval to
pear shaped, thick-walled, and spiny and are with four equatorial or scattered large
distinct germ pores. They are pale to dark, club shaped to cylindrical and are on the
margins of the sori. Teleutospores are two-celled, smooth walled, club shaped with a
constriction at the septum. They are pale to brick red and are borne on short stalks.
In P. kuehnii, uredospores are with 3 to 5 equatorially placed germ pores.
Teleutosori are small, elongated and blackish. Teleutospores are pale yellow, oblong
to club shaped, rounded or somewhat flattened above, narrow below, two celled,
slightly constricted at the septum. The spores are borne on very short stalks.
7. Eye-spot
Symptoms: The lesion appears as small watery area, dark green than the normal
leaf. Within 3 to 4 days, lesion becomes more or less straw coloured. Later the
central portion of the spot becomes reddish brown. The spot increases in size,
elongate in the direction of the main axis of the leaf. The typical spot is oval in shape
and slightly less in width, with a reddish brown centre and a light coloured border or
halo. As it becomes older, the centre breaks down and becomes greyish and the
hollow becomes less prominent.
Fungus:
Drechslera sacchari (Syn. Helminthosporium sacchari). Conidiophores
arise singly or in small fascicles, straight or flexuous, dark-brown or olivaceous
brown, paler towards the apex. Conidia are slightly curved or occasionally straight,
cylindrical or narrowly ellipsoid, mid-pale to midgolden- brown, smooth and 5 to 9
pseudoseptate. The fungus produces a toxin called helminthosporin.
8. Ring spot
Symptoms:
On the leaf blades the spots are dark green to brownish but
later become reddish brown, each usually surrounded by a narrow yellowish zone.
Finally, the centre of the spot becomes straw coloured. The old spot typically has
the straw coloured centre surrounded by a narrow reddish zone. Sometimes an
outer yellowish zone persists, especially near the ends of the spots. At first the spots
are irregular in shape, more or less diamond shaped or oval. Small, blackish specks
appear on the old spots. Similar spots occur on the leaf sheaths also.
Fungus:
Leptosphaeria sacchari. Mycelium is intercellular, septate and thin.
Perithecia are at first subepidermal or erumpent, spherical or subglobose, black, with
a papillate ostiole. Asci are cylindrical, slightly narrowed at the base. Eight spores
per ascus, approximately 2 rowed, oblong, 3-septate, constricted at the septa,
hyaline or sub-hyaline. Paraphyses are filamentous, about the same length the asci
and are hyaline.
9. Ratoon stunting disease (RSD)
Symptoms: Growth is retarded and often the affected plants; especially in the
ratoon crops are severely stunted. The disease is present in plant crops also.
Internodal length is much reduced. Tillering of the canes is less. Girth of the canes
is not usually affected. Yield is considerably reduced. In young growing shoots the
growing point both nodes and internodes are pinkish in colour, while in the mature
stalks of most varieties the lower portion of the node is usually orange to light red or
yellow. In matured canes the nodes show discolouration of vascular bundles. The
fibrovascular bundles in this discoloured band are apparently clogged. Germination
of sett is low, delayed and the growth of the plant is very slow.
Causal agent: Clavibacter xyli subsp. xyli.
10. Mosaic
Symptoms: The characteristic symptom of mosaic is the presence of chlorotic or
light coloured areas on the leaves. Ordinarily these are elongated into more or less
irregular stripes or streaks surrounded by areas with the normal green colour. The
mosaic pattern resulting from the different shades of green varies with the cane
variety, the conditions of growth the temperature and the strain of the virus involved.
The chlorotic areas are more distinct on the actively growing basal portion of the leaf.
Chlorotic areas frequently are also present on the leaf sheaths. On the stalks dark
coloured stripes, reddish, purplish or brownish or on the dark coloured canes light
coloured stripes, occur with some varieties. In some cases rind tissues collapse and
the stalks appear dry. Affected plants are stunted and chlorotic. The diagnostic
symptoms of mosaic are slow growth, general yellowing of the foliage and the
presence of irregular, indefinite, pale to yellowish areas on the leaves.
Causal agent:
Sugarcane mosaic virus (SCMV). The virus is rod-shaped. In
India six strains have been identified viz., A,B,C,D,E and F. Strain B is the most
common which produces mild mottle of the leaves. It is transmitted by the aphids
viz., Rhopalosiphum maidis, Melanaphis sacchari and M. indosacchari.
11. Grassy shoot disease (GSD)
Questions to be answered
1. Toxin produced by Helminthosporium sacchari is _____________
2. The motile spores produced by damping off pathogen is ___________
3. Black powdery mass released from whip smut of sugarcane are _____________
of the pathogen
4. In Sugarcane, black whip-like structure is formed from __________ of the plant
True or False
1. Xanthomonas axonopodis pv. malvacearum is a seed-borne pathogen
2. Red rot of sugarcane primarily spread through diseased setts
Differentiate
1. Fusarium wilt and Verticillium wilt of cotton
2. Alternaria blilght and Myrothecium blight of cotton
3. Sett rot and red rot of sugarcane
4. Red rot and wilt of sugarcane
Ex. No. 6
Date:
MANGO
1. Powdery mildew
Symptoms: Whitish bloom of powdery mildew is seen on upper surface of leaf.
Leaves lose green colour and dry up. Whitish patches formed on the stalks of
inflorescence which later turn black. Affected fruits do not develop in size and may
drop before attaining pea size. White coating is due to the thick covering of
mycelium, conidia and conidiophores.
2. Sooty mould
Symptoms: The disease is associated with scale insects and aphids. The honey
secreted by the insects on the leaves and twigs of host plants attracts the fungus
which multiplies rapidly, spreading on the plant surface. Because of the production of
masses of black spores, which stick to the leaf surface due to the sticky honey dew,
the foliage appears black and ugly and hence the name sooty mould.
Photosynthetic activity and yield are reduced.
Fungi : Capnodium ramosum, C.mangiferae and Meliola mangiferae.
3. Anthracnose
Symptoms : Leaves, stems, blossoms and fruits are attacked. On leaves the spots
are round to irregular and dark brown. Affected portion dries and falls off exhibiting
shot hole. Sometimes leaf margins darken, dry up, may fall out, giving the leaf a
ragged appearance. Young leaves wither and dry up. Young branches wither, dry
and show die-back. Black round spots are of more than 5 mm seen on matured
fruits. Affected areas usually crack and sink slightly. Latent infection is carried out
from the field and develops further in storage, which causes rotting of fruits in store
houses. Skin becomes thin and pulp is rotten.
Fungus: Colletotrichum gloeosporioides. Mycelium is septate and coloured. Conidia
single celled, hyaline, falcate and are produced in acervuli.
4. Grey blight
Symptoms: Spots on leaves are small, round or elongated and seen at the distal
end or any part of leaf. The spots are light brown with a dark brown margin. Leaf tip
dries up and the infection spreads down towards petioles. Elliptical lesions on stem
girdle the stem. Water soaked, round lesions on fruits enlarge rapidly and cause
rotting particularly in storage. Acervuli are seen as minute black dots on affected
portions.
Fungus: Pestalotiopsis mangiferae (Syn. Pestalotia mangiferae). Mycelium is
coloured and septate. Conidia are five celled. Middle three cells are coloured and
the end cells are hyaline. Appendages are slender, 3-5 in number and are seen at
the apex of the conidia.
BANANA
1. Panama disease / Fusarium wilt
Symptoms: Yellowing of lower most leaves. Yellowing extends upwards and finally
heart leaf alone remain green. Leaves break near the base and hang around the
pseudostem. Longitudinal splitting at the base of the pseudostem is seen. Central
portion of the affected rhizome is dark brown and purplish streaks radiating from the
centre are seen in the cross section.
Fungus: Fusarium oxysporum f.sp. cubense. Mycelium is septate, hyaline and
branched. Fungus produces microconidia, macroconidia and chlamydospores.
Microconidia are single celled or rarely one-septate, hyaline and elliptical or oval.
Macroconidia are sickle-shaped, hyaline, 3-septate and they are tapering at both the
ends. Chlamydospores are thick walled, spherical to oval and hyaline to slightly
yellow in colour.
cylindrical, tapered towards the apex, hyaline and septate. Conidia are single celled,
hyaline, small and elongated.
solanacearum).
The
Symptoms: Brownish liner streaks appear along the veins. They turn dark brown
and finally black with a chlorotic halo. Leaves roll downwards, dry up in the affected
portions presenting a scorched appearance.
Bacterium: Xanthomonas campestris pv. musicola. The bacterium is a Gram
negative rod with a polar flagellum, non-capsulated and non-spore forming.
8. Bunchy top
Symptoms: Plants are extremely stunted. Leaves are erect and crowded at the top
forming a rosette appearance. Leaves are shortened, narrow, rigid and brittle with
broken green bands on the petioles. Leaves are
Causal agent: Banana Bunchy top virus (BBTV) or Musa virus-1.
Vector : Pentalonia nigronervosa (aphid)
Causal agent: Banana Streak Virus (BSV). Virus particles are bacilliform. The
disease is neither transmitted mechanically nor by aphid vector.
A.
B. GUAVA
1. Fusarium wilt
Symptoms: Leaves of affected branches show yellowing, curling and drying but
they do not shed for sometime. Affected branches bearing infected leaves begin to
die and the twig barks show severe splitting. Barks turn light brown. It is severe at
the time of fruit bearing stage. Fruits produced in affected plants are very small.
Trees do not produce any new flush or flowers. Trees die within a year.
Fungus: Fusarium oxysporum f.sp. psidii. Mycelium is hyaline, branched and
septate.
Microconidia are unicellular, oval and hyaline.
Macroconidia are
multiseptate, hyaline and sickle-shaped. Chlamydospores are intercalary /terminal.
Fungus: Psetalotiopsis psidii. Acervuli are brown to black. Conidia, which are
oblong and 5-celled. Three median cells are dark brown and gradually bulged and
the end cells are hyaline. Three apical hyaline setulae are present. Apical cell is
conical or cylindrical. Basal cells are obtuse and erect with a small pedicel.
4. Sooty mould
Symptoms: Black sooty growth is found on the surface of leaves, branches and
fruits. Sooty growth (mycelium, conidiophores and conidia) is associated with the
infestation of scales and mealy bugs.
Fungus: Meliola sp. and Capnodium sp.
7. Giant mistletoe
Symptoms: The parasite attacks young branches of trees in neglected gardens.
Branches above the point of attack appear sickly or dry.
Causal agent: Dendrophthoe falcata and D.longiflora.
parasite with dull green leaves with profuse flowering.
SAPOTA
1. Leaf spot
This is a phanerogamic
Symptoms: Small, round and pinkish to dark brown spots with centre are seen on
leaves. They are either distributed or grouped on the leaf. The spots coalesce and
cause premature leaf fall and reduction fruit yield.
Fungus: Phavophleospora indica
2. Leaf spot
Symptoms: Spots with grey centre and reddish margin are seen on the leaves.
More spots cause drying of leaves. Fruiting bodies as minute black dots can be seen
on the pods.
Fungus: Pestalotiopsis versicolor
3. Sooty mould
Symptoms: Black sooty growth develops on the upper surface of the leaves which
reduces the photosynthetic ability of the trees.
Fungus: Capnodium sp. The mycelium is septate, dark coloured and superficial.
4. Flat limb
Symptoms: Branches are typically flat, twisted with thin, yellow, hollow leaves in
bunches. Fruits formed are small hard and dry.
Fungus: Botryodiplodia theobromae.
Questions to be answered
1. How the powdery mildew of mango spreads?
2. Which insect is associated with sooty mould on mango?
3. What is latent infection? Give an example.
4. The fruiting body produced by grey blight of mango is __________
5. Which disease causes the highest damage to mango crop? How?
6. The primary spread of Panama disease is by ____________
7. Longitudinal splitting of pseudostem is common in __________ disease
8. A post-harvest pathogen in banana is ______________
CITRUS, GRAPEVINE,
POMEGRANATE, PAPAYA, APPLE AND PEACH
CITRUS
1. Gummosis
Symptoms: Profuse oozing of the gum on the affected bark forming an encrustation
on the bark is the main symptom. Droplets of gum trickles down the stem. The bark
is destroyed all round the trunk, girdling the tree and eventually the tree dies. The
bark, wood and cambium show discolouration. The bark cracks and shreds
longitudinally. Leaves turn yellow and pale. Affected tree dies in few months. Prior
to death the tree produces more flowers but dies before the fruits mature. Light
brown water soaked irregular spots appear on the leaves and rind of fruits. Shedding
of leaves from lower branches, fruit drop and rotting of fruits. Fallen fruits are
covered by whitish cottony fungal growth.
Fungi: Phytophthora palmivora, P.citrophthora and P.parasitica. Mycelium is
coenocytic and hyaline. Sporangium is round or pear-shaped and contains
zoospores which are biflagellate.
2. Anthracnose and die-back / Wither tip
Symptoms: Affected branches begin to wither from the tip downward. Drying back
gradually progresses downwards (die-back) with the leaves turning yellow. Later the
leaves wither and drop off. Black dots of acervuli appear on dead twigs.
Fungus: Colletotrichum gloeosporioides (Sexual stage: Glomerella cingulata).
Mycelium is septate, branched and dark coloured. Acervuli contain single celled,
hyaline and ellipsoid conidia.
3. Powdery mildew
Symptoms: Mandarin is severely attacked. Whitish powdery growth appears on
leaves and young twigs. Leaves become yellow and distorted and shed. Tender
leaves are highly susceptible. Young fruits are covered by mildew growth. Die-back
of twigs after young leaves are shed.
Fungus: Oidium tingitaninum. Mycelium is hyaline, septate and external. Conidia
are produced in chain. They are single celled, hyaline and barrel-shaped.
4. Sooty mould
Symptoms: The disease develops as sooty black fungal growth on the leaves, twigs
and fruits. The fungus lives on the honey dew secreted by scale insects. The
photosynthetic activity of the leaves is reduced. The trees look sickly and fruit yield is
reduced.
Fungus: Capnodium citri.
5.
Scab / Verucosis
Symptoms : Attacks leaves, twigs and fruits of mandarin. Leaves show irregular
corky raised reddish or yellowish lesions mostly on the lower surface leading to
severe distortion wrinkling and stunting. The lesions are flat or depressed at the
centre. On twigs dark corky outgrowths are seen. Lesions on fruit are corky which
often break into caked masses. Lesions are cream coloured in young fruits and dark
olive grey in old fruits. Fruits attacked when young are mis-shapened show
prominent warty projections. They drop prematurely.
Fungus: Elsinoe fawcetti (Conidial stage: Sphaceloma citri). Conidia formed in pink
acervuli are hyaline, oblong and one celled.
Pseudothecia are produced.
Ascospores are hyaline and 1 to 3 septate.
7. Canker
Symptoms: Acid lime, lemon and grape fruits are attacked. The disease attacks all
the plant parts viz., leaves, twigs, thorns, older branches and fruits. The spots on the
leaves are raised above the surface as circular, brown corky outgrowth with yellow
halo. On the twigs, irregular and raised cankers are formed, causing death of twigs
above the point of attack. On the fruit surface round to irregular, raised cankerous
spots are seen. The spots are few to many, coalesce together and reduce market
value of fruits. Halo is absent on fruits.
Bacterium:
Xanthomonas axonopodis pv.citri (Syn. Xanthomonas campestris
pv.citri.). The bacterium is a Gram negative rod, forms chains and capsules, motile
by polar flagellum and non-spore former. Bacterial colonies on nutrient agar are
circular, straw yellow coloured, slightly raised and glistening.
10. Dodder
Symptoms: The parasitic dodder is first noticed in the citrus garden as small
masses of branched, thread-like, cream yellow or orange coloured, leafless stems,
which are devoid of green pigments and which twine around the stem or leaves of
the host. It penetrates the host through haustoria, by which it draws nutrients from
the host. It produces tiny, white, pink or yellowish flowers in clusters. It perpetuates
through seeds which fall on the ground and remain viable until favourable season
return.
Causal agent: Cuscuta spp.
GRAPEVINE
1. Powdery mildew
Symptoms: White powdery coating on the upper surface of leaf either in patches or
in full. Leaves turn pale and chlorotic. Malformation and discolouration of affected
leaves also seen. Stem turns dark brown. Floral infection leads to shedding of
flowers and young berries. Berries are covered by white growth, show cracking,
shriveling and mis-shapening.
Fungus: Uncinula necator. Mycelium is external, septate and hyaline. Conidiophores
are short and arise from external mycelium. Conidia are single celled, hyaline, barrelshaped and in chain (Oidium type). Sexual fruiting bodies called cleistothecia (with
several asci) are myceloid and circinoid (coiled at the tip)
2. Downy mildew
Symptoms: Leaves show irregular yellowish spots on the upper surface.
Corresponding lower leaf surface shows white cushiony downy growth. Affected
leaves become yellow then brown and dry and fall prematurely. Tender shoots are
dwarfed. Brown sunken lesions appear on the stem. Berries become leathery,
shrivel, dry and mummified. Developed berries turn reddish brown and result in softrot.
Fungus: Plasmopara viticola. Mycelium is coenocytic and intercellular. Haustoria
present. Sporangiophores emerge through stomata. They branch monopodially and
dichotomously at right angles and tips of branches are blunt. Sporangia are borne on
the branches. They are thin walled, lemon-shaped, single celled and hyaline.
Sporangia produce zoospores. Oospores are thick walled.
3. Birds eye spot / Anthracnose
Symptoms: Young shoots are more susceptible than leaves. Each spot is
surrounded by yellow halo. The centre of the spot later become grey, sunken and fall
off giving a shot hole symptom. Leaves with many spots are distorted. Black
elliptical sunken lesions on young shoots cause girdling and death. Infection on stalk
of bunches and berries result in shedding of bunches and berries respectively. On
berries spots are sunken with ashy grey centre and dark brown margin resembling
birds eye. Severe infection leads to mummification and shedding of berries.
Fungus: Gloeosporium ampelophagum (Elsinoe ampelina). The fungus produces
acervuli. Conidiophores are 1 to 2 septate, cylindrical, unbranched and pale brown.
Conidia are single celled, oval, hyaline and smooth. Ascocarps are produced. Asci
are globular. Ascospores are hyaline and three-septate.
4. Black rot
Symptoms: Circular red spots with black margin appear on the leaves. Fruiting
bodies are seen as minute black dots in concentric rings on the spots. Light brown
circular spots on the berries. Spots increase in size and entire berry is discoloured
and decay. They are transformed into hard, black and shriveled mummies.
Fungus: Guignardia bidwellii. Matured mycelium is brown and septate. Pycnidia
are globose and conidia are ellipsoid and hyaline. Perithecia are globose and asci
are clavate with 8-ascospores which are hyaline. 2-celled and sub-ovoid.
5. Rust
Symptoms: Numerous, orange coloured sori are seen on the lower surface of the
leaves. The corresponding upper surface shows necrosis. Defoliation occurs in
severe cases.
Fungus: Phakopsora vitis. The uredospores are sessile, oval or pear-shaped, light
yellow, echinulated and single celled. Teliospores are sessile, single celled and are
found in several layers.
viticola.
7. Leaf blight
Symptoms: On the leaves typical brown spots with concentric rings are seen mostly
on the margins. Attacked leaves dry completely and defoliate.
Fungus: Alternaria vitis. Conidia are with transverse and longitudinal septa.
C. POMEGRANATE
4. Bacterial blight
Symptoms: Spots on leaves are dark brown and are surrounded by prominent
water-soaked margins. Spots coalesce to form large patches. Severely infected
leaves are often distorted and malformed and fall off prematurely. On the stem
brown to black spots appear around the nodes, girdle the stem and causes the
branches to break. The spots on the fruits are raised, oily and brown to black.
Finally it results in cracking of fruits.
Bacterium: Xanthomonas axonopodis pv. punicae. It a Gram negative, rod-shaped,
motile with single polar flagellum, non-acid fast and aerobic.
PAPAYA
1. Damping off
Symptoms: Young seedlings are killed before they come out of soil. Germinated
seedlings topple over at any time after emergence.
Fungus: Pythium aphanidermatum. Mycelium is coenocytic and hyaline. Sporangia
are lobulate. Zoospores are kidney-shaped and biflagellate(with whip lash and
tinsel).
3. Powdery mildew
Symptoms: It attacks seedlings and matured trees. White powdery growth appears
on the leaves. White patches appear on fruits. Young infected leaves dry up
prematurely and drop down.
Fungi: Oidium caricae. Mycelium is hyaline and septate. Haustoria develop in
epidermal cells. Conidia are hyaline, single celled, barrel-shaped and are produced
in chain.
4. Anthracnose
Symptoms: The spots on fruits are brown, circular slightly sunken and 1-3 cm in
dia. The lesions coalesce. Sparse mycelial growth appears on the margins of spots
on fruits. Under humid conditions salmon pink spores are seen as encrustation.
Severely diseased fruits turned brown and rot. Infection on very young fruits results in
mummification and deformation. It attacks leaves, petioles and stems also. Acervuli
are seen in concentric rings on the petioles.
Fungus: Colletotrichum papayae (Colletotrichum gloeosporioides).
5. Leaf spot
Symptoms: The spots are circular or irregular with white centre and yellow brown
margin. Minute, black pycnidia are seen on the spots. The central portion becomes
thin, papery, brittle and falls out leaving a shot hole appearance.
Fungus: Phyllosticta sulata. Mycelium is septate and dark coloured. Pycnidia
conidia which are single celled, hyaline and oval.
7. Mosaic
Symptoms: Typical mosaic symptoms showing chlorosis with dark green blisters
are seen on leaves. Puckering and malformation of young leaves happen. Leaf
lobes are thin and are increased in number and show shoestring symptoms. Old
leaves get defoliated. New leaves formed after infection show yellow mosaic
symptom. Fruits show circular, water soaked lesions with white spots in the centre.
Casual agent: Papaya mosaic virus / Carica virus.1. The virus is a flexuous rod.
Vector: Myzus persicae, Aphis malvae, A.medicaginis, A.gossypii and Macrosiphum
sonchi.( Aphids).
8. Leaf curl
D. APPLE
1. Scab
Symptoms: Scattered, rough, circular, brown or olive green spots appear on leaves.
They become grey, necrotic and may be slightly raised. Leaves are dwarfed, curled
and fall off. On the fruits, spots are black. Affected fruits are deformed and reduced
in size. Fruits become corky over the entire surface and drop prematurely.
Fungus: Venturia inaequalis. The mycelium in living tissues is located between
cuticle and epidermal cell and septate. It produces short conidiophore that give rise
to 1 to 2 celled conidia. They are oval and smoke brown. Pseudothecia are formed.
Each pseudothecium contains 50-100 asci and each ascus has 8 ascospores.
Ascospores are two celled, ovoid, greenish grey or yellow with the upper cell shorter
than the lower cell. The unequal size of the two cells gives the species name.
2. Powdery mildew
Symptoms: All parts of the tree are affected. Small white greyish patches of fungal
growth appear of leaves on both the surfaces. Affected leaves become crinkled and
curled. The entire surface of the leaf is covered with the growth of the fungus.
Affected leaves become hard and brittle. Similar growth is seen on the twigs also.
Fruit buds are blighted and dropped. Affected fruits remain small or deformed,
harden and develop crack.
Fungus: Podosphaera leucotricha. The mycelium is ectophytic. The haustoria are
produced inside the epidermal cells. Each conidiophore bears a chain of conidia.
The conidia are hyaline, single celled and barrel-shaped. The fungus is of Oidium
type. Sexual fruiting body is globose cleistothecium containing only one ascus. The
ascus contains 8 ascospores. Appendages are thick walled, straight, rigid and
dichotomously branched.
3. Pink disease
Symptoms: The trunk and the branches exhibit pink discolouration on the bark.
The bark exhibits drying and longitudinal splitting. Leaves turn yellow. Affected
branches die.
Fungus: Corticium salmonicolor.
4. White root rot
Symptoms: Five to 20 year old trees are the most susceptible. The infected trees
give a sickly appearance with bronze coloured leaves during August- September.
Infected leaves fall off prematurely. Lateral roots turn into brown and the fibrous
roots are completely destroyed. White fluffy mycelium in seen on the laetrile spots in
advanced stages.
Fungus: Dematophore necatrix (Rosellinia necatrix).
PEACH
1. Leaf curl
Symptoms: The disease first appears in the early spring when the leaves begin to
unfold. The leaf blade thickens and puckers along the midrib and curls. Then the
leaf tissues gradually change to yellow and finally to a reddish purple tint. The
reddish velvety surface of the lamina is soon covered with a whitish grey bloom of the
fungus on the upper surface. Veins do not develop properly. Both the leaves and
petioles may curl. Affected leaves die and drop prematurely. Twigs become pale
green to yellow, swollen, stunted and exude gummy material. Fruit set is poor.
Affected flowers and fruits drop prematurely.
5. Peach yellows
Symptoms: Trees show numerous upright branches growing from the main stem.
The branches are numerous and the tree looks bushy. The leaves are small but the
basal one or two leaves are abnormally long and straight with inrolled margins. Most
of the leaves show light green to yellow mottling and have irregular margin and
clearing of veins. The tree is stunted and internodes are short. The diseased trees
look bushy with tufts of small yellow leaves. Later, symptoms of wilting and die-back
appear resulting in the death of the infected tree.
Causal agent: Phytoplasma.
Questions to be answered
1. Teliospores of Phakopsora is _______ celled
2. Name one soil-borne disease of citrus
3. Flowering parasite affecting citrus is ___________
4. Cross protection technique is followed for the control of __________ disease
5. Citrus psylla is a vector of ______________
6. Fruiting body produced by apple scab pathogen is ______________
7. The sexual spore of Venturia inaequalis is ______________
8. Naked asci is seen in _____________
9. Taphrina deformans caused leaf curl in _______ and __________
True or False
1. The ascospores of Venturia inaequalis is two celled with unequal size
2. Peach leaf curl is caused by a virus
3. Mycelium of Podosphaeria leucotricha is epiphytic
4. Peach yellows is a viral disease
Differentiate
1. Powdery mildew and Downy mildew of grapevine
2. Birds eye spot and black rot of grapevine
3. Brown leaf spot and leaf blight of grapevine
4. Quick decline and gummosis of citrus
5. Scab and Canker in citrus
6. Citrus greening and bacterial canker in citrus
7. Foot rot and dry root rot of papaya
8. Mosaic and leaf curl of papaya
9. Peach leaf curl and peach yellows
Ex. No. 8
Date:
TOMATO
1. Damping off
Symptoms: The disease may attack the seedlings before the emergence of
seedlings from the soil or after the emergence of seedlings. The affected seedlings
become pale and suddenly collapse. The basal cortical region begins to rot resulting
in toppling of the seedlings. Dark brown lesions also appear on stem and the
affected tissues soon become rotten.
Fungi: Pythium aphanidermatum, Pythium myriotylum, Rhizoctonia solani and
Phytophthora nicotianae var. parasitica.
2. Early blight
Symptoms: In the affected leaves circular to angular, dark brown to black spots with
concentric rings appear. The spots coalesce and cause drying and defoliation of
leaves. Dark spots are found at the base of the stem near the ground level and the
stem is gradually girdled. Spots are also found in the stem at the juncture of the side
branches which are easily broken by wind. On the fruit, dark brown sunken spots are
found. Immature fruits are shed.
Fungus: Alternaria solani. Mycelium is septate, branched, light brown which
become darker with age. Conidiophores are dark coloured. Conidia are muriform,
beaked, dark coloured and borne singly. In each conidium 5 to 10 transverse and a
few longitudinal septa are present.
3. Fusarium wilt
Symptoms: Affected plants exhibit yellowing and drooping of lower leaves followed
by such symptoms in young leaves. Plants wilt and die in due course. Internal stem
portion exhibits vascular browning.
Fungus: Fusarium oxysporum f.sp. lycopersici. Mycelium is septate. The fungus
produces microconidia, macroconidia and chlamydospores.
Microconidia are
hyaline, oval, single celled or one septate. Macroconidia are sickle-shaped, 3-5
celled and hyaline. Chlamydospores are thick walled, round resting spores, produced
terminally or intercalarily on older mycelium.
5. Late blight
Symptoms: Infection occurs on all the above ground plant parts. Water soaked
lesions with faded green patches appear on the leaves. Infections spread fast to
entire leaf and petiole. Dead areas appear in leaf tip and margins. Whitish mildew
like growth appear on leaves under humid conditions. The leaves are blighted and
become dry. Dark olivaceous greasy spots occur on the fruits. Fruit cracking and
appearance of white fungal growth on it may be seen resulting in soft rot. In severe
cases of attack the whole plant dies.
Fungus: Phytophthora infestans. The fungus produces coenocytic, hyaline and
branched mycelium. Haustoria are club-shaped. Zoosporangia are thin walled,
hyaline, oval or pear-shaped with a distinct papilla at the apex. Zoospores are
biflagellate. Oospores are spherical.
7. Bacterial wilt
Symptoms: Stunting, yellowing and wilting of foliage leading to collapse of the
entire plant. Lower leaves droop before wilting. Cross section of the stem near the
base will show vascular browning. When the affected stem is cut bacterial ooze can
be seen. Adventitious roots from the stem are noticed. The affected plants collapse
and die.
Bacterium: Ralstonia solanacearum. It is Gram negative and rod-shaped bacterium
occurs in pairs with 1-4 polar flagella.
8. Bacterial canker
Symptoms: On the leaves, the symptom is seen as small translucent water-soaked
spots in the beginning but soon enlarge into black greasy or dark-brown spots
surrounded by yellow halo. Several spots cause chlorosis in the leaves and
defoliation. Black cankerous spots appear on stem and petiole. Water-soaked
lesions are observed on unripe green fruits. They become corky resembling small
scabs with irregular margins.
Bacterium:
Xanthomonas vesicatoria (Syn. Xanthomonas campestris pv.
vesicatoria). It is a Gram negative, rod-shaped bacterium with single polar flagellum.
Colonies are circular with bright yellowing colour.
10. Mosaic
Symptoms: Typical mosaic pattern with dark green and light green areas on leaves.
Leaflets are usually distorted, puckered and are small. At times leaflets exhibit, Fern
leaf symptoms. Necrotic sunken lesions occur on fruits. Infection on matured fruits
shows internal necrosis.
Causal agent: Tomato mosaic virus. The virus is transmitted by contacts (sap
transmissible), hands of workers, plant debris, implements and on the surface of
seeds and sap. No vector transmission.
Symptoms: Leaves become reduced in size and exhibit thickened, bronzy veins.
Necrotic irregular spots are seen on the leaf surface. Leaf exhibits characteristic
bronzing and necrosis. The place where the branch arises from the main stem
becomes weak and necrotic leading to bending of branches from the main stem. On
fruits, pale yellow or yellowish concentric, circular rings of mosaic mottling are
observed.
Causal agent: Tomato spotted wilt virus (TSWV).
Vector: Thrips tabaci, Frankliniella schultzei, F. fusca and F. occidentalis (Thrips).
BRINJAL
1. Damping off
Symptoms: Seedling infection is seen as brown discolouration at the lower portion
of the stem where the tissues later become soft. Such diseased seedlings collapse
at soil level.
Fungus: Pythium aphanidermatum. Mycelium is coenocytic and hyaline. Zoospores
are lobed. Zoospores are reniform in shape and biflagellate. Oospores are
spherical, aplerotic, single, smooth and thick walled.
2. Fusarium wilt
Symptoms: It attacks seedlings as well as matured plants. Leaves become flaccid
and hang down. Leaves turn chlorotic. If the bark of the stem is peeled, brown
streaks can be seen. Roots exhibit rotting. Whitish fungal growth is seen on base of
stem and roots.
Fungus: Fusarium solani.
Mycelium is septate and hyaline.
It produces
microconidia, macroconidia and chlamydospores. Microconidia are hyaline, wedge
shaped, 2-celled and are formed in chain. Macroconidia are falcate and septate.
Chlamydospores are globose, intercalary or terminal.
3. Leaf spot
Symptoms: Irregular, brown and necrotic spots with concentric rings are seen on
leaves. Leaf dries due to bigger necrotic patches and then fall down. Fruit spots are
dark brown and sunken, which turns yellow and cause fruit drop.
Fungus: Alternaria solani. Mycelium is septate, brown, inter- and intra-cellular.
Conidiophores emerge through stomata. Conidia are produced singly, muriform, has
5-10 transverse septa and a few longitudinal septa.
4. Rust
Symptoms: The pycnial and aecial stages of pearlmillet rust are formed on leaves
of this alternate host, brinjal. The upper surface of leaf become depressed and the
corresponding lower surface become convex. Pycnia are formed as orange yellow
pustules on the upper leaf surface. Aecial cups are formed in groups on the lower
surface of leaves.
Fungus: Puccinia substriata var. penicillariae. Pycniospores are oblong, hyaline and
single celled. Aecia are inverted cup-like structures formed near the epidermis.
Each cup has an outer wall called peridium made up of single layer of cells.
Aeciospores are hyaline and spherical in initial stage but become polygonal. They
are produced in chain.
BHENDI
1. Powdery mildew
Symptoms: White or greyish white patches appear on the upper surface of leaf.
Later it covers the entire leaf surface. The fungal growth changes brown and the
affected leaves dry and fall.
Fungus: Erysiphe cichoracearum. Mycelium is ectophytic and haustoria are buttonshaped. Conidia are hyaline, barrel-shaped, single celled and are produced in chain.
Cleistothecia are globose and dark. Each ascus has two ascospores, which are
hyaline, unicellular and oval.
Questions to be answered
1. Mention two important conditions which favour the development of damping off
disease in tomato.
2. How the damping off disease spreads?
3. The fruiting body of Phomopsis blight in brinjal is _______________
4. Mention a phytoplasma disease in tomato
True or False
1. Sclerotium rolfsii survives in the off-season as sclerotia
2. Erysiphe cichoracearum produces oidiopsis type of conidia
3. Conidium of Alternaria is hyaline
4. BYVMV affects both quality and quantity of bhendi fruits
5. Brinjal act as an alternative host crop for pearlmillet rust pathogen
Differentiate
1. Fusarium wilt of tomato and Tomato spotted wilt
2. Bacterial wilt and bacterial canker of tomato
3. Mosaic and leaf curl of tomato
Ex. No. 9
Date:
CURCURBITS
1. Fusarium wilt
Symptoms: Seedlings and grown up plants are attacked. Young seedlings may
damp off and die. In older plants margins show tip burning. Wilting progresses
slowly. In wet weather, dead stems show white or pinkish mass of fungal growth.
Fungus: Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. niveum.
Microconidia oval, single celled.
Macroconidia are sickle-shaped and septate. Chlamydospores are thick walled.
2. Anthracnose
Symptoms: All the above ground plant parts are attacked. Drying and death of
young seedlings occur. In older plants spots on leaves are yellowish brown. Angular
to roughly circular with a yellow halo. In severe cases, diseased and necrotic portion
falls off leading to shot hole. Number of spots coalesces and leaves dry up
subsequently. Stem infection results in the formation of shallow water soaked, brown
coloured, sunken lesions, which later girdle the stem and cause death of shoots.
Young fruits shrivel with dark colour. On matured fruits circular, black, sunken lesions
of varying size appear. When moisture is present the centre of the spot shows
gelatinous mass of pink coloured conidia. It the older lesions black acervuli arranged
in concentric rings are seen. Affected fruits ripen and become yellow and the flesh
become tuff and insipid. Secondary microorganisms enter through the wounds in the
lesions and cause rotting of fruits.
Fungus: Colletotrichum lagenarium.
oblong, single celled and hyaline.
3. Downy mildew
Symptoms: Irregular white patches of downy growth are seen the surface of leaves.
The corresponding upper surface shows yellow patches. These spots become
angular and bounded by leaf veins. Entire leaf dries quickly. Young leaves are less
susceptible than the older leaves. Fruits are dwarf, few and with poor taste.
Fungus: Pseudoperonospora cubensis. It is an obligate parasite. The mycelium is
coenocytic, intercellular and is with ovate haustoria. Sporangiophores arise in groups
through stomata, dichotomously branched and bear sporangia. The sporangia are
greyish, ovoid, thin walled provided with papilla at the distal ends. Oospores are not
common.
4. Powdery mildew
Symptoms: White or dirty grey powdery growth is seen superficially on the upper
surface of leaves in patches. Later they cover the entire leaf surface. The leaves
turn brown and dry. Premature defoliation and death of vines occur. Fruits are
undersized, deformed and the quality is also reduced.
Fungus: Erysiphe cichoracearum. Mycelium is hyaline, septate and superficial.
Conidia are single celled, hyaline, barrel-shaped produced in long chains.
Cleistothecia are globose and dark with myceloid appendages.
6. Alternaria blight
Symptoms: Water-soaked circular leaf spots appear on the leaves. They increase
in size and show concentric rings on the upper leaf surface.
Fungus: Alternaria cucumerina. Mycelium is septate and coloured. Conidia are
obclavate, dark and muriform in shape. It is with 1-9 transverse septa and 1-7
longitudinal septa.
8. Cucumber mosaic
Symptoms: Leaves show clear mosaic symptoms. Affected leaves are puckered
and deformed. Internodes are shortened. Leaves attain only half the size of normal
leaves. Flowers are dwarfed and few in number. Fruits are small with yellowish
green mottling.
Causal agent: Cucumber mosaic virus (CMV).
Vector: Aphids craccivora, A. evonymi, A. gossypii and Myzus persicae (Aphids). It is
also transmitted by sap and grafting.
CRUCIFERS
Cabbage and Cauliflower
1. Club root
Symptoms: Infected plants at first have pale green to yellowish leaves. Later,
infected plants show wilting in the middle of the hot, sunny days, which recover
during night. Young plants are killed while older plants remain alive but stunted and
fail to produce marketable heads. Most characteristic symptoms are seen on the
roots. Affected roots are small and show spindle-shaped or club-shaped swellings
due to hypertrophy and hyperplasia. Hypertrophy causes malfunctioning of xylem,
which results in flagging of the leaves. The lateral roots and rootlets are also
converted into spindle-like-swelling. Older and larger clubbed roots disintegrate
before the end of the season because of invasion by bacteria and other fungi.
Fungus: Plasmodiophora brassicae. The fungus produces plasmodia, resting
spores (hyaline ad spherical) and anteriorly biflagellate primary and secondary
zoospores.
septate (0-3 septate), coloured and beaked. Conidia are mostly solitary or chains up
to 4.
3. White rust
Symptoms: Prominent white or creamy yellow pustules of 1 to 2 mm dia are mainly
observed on the lower surface of the leaves. The upper surface correspondingly
exhibits yellow patches. Blisters appear on the stem and inflorescence. When young
stems and inflorescence are infected or when the infection has occurred from soilborne oospores in the seedling stage, the fungus becomes systemic and causes
hypertrophy and hyperplasia of floral tissues, which leads to swellings and
distortions. Affected inflorescence increase 12 to 15 times in size. Axis is
inflorescence and flower stalks are enormously thickened. Floral organs become
partly or wholly swollen, fleshy, green or violet in colour. Petals will look like sepals
and stamens become leaf-like. Ovules and pollen grain are atrophied. Ovary is
sterile. Early infection causes stunting of plants.
Fungus: Albugo candida. (Cystopus candida). It is an obligate parasite. Mycelium is
intercellular. Sporangiophores are club-shaped and hyaline. Sporangia are single
celled, spherical, hyaline and are arranged in chain.
4. Downy mildew
Symptoms: The fungus infects leaves, stems and inflorescence. Greyish white
downy fungal growth appears on the under surface of the leaves while the
corresponding upper surface show yellowish spots. Infected leaves dry up and fall
off. Floral parts are deformed. Cauliflower curds look brownish at the top. The stems
show dark brown and depressed lesions, which later develop downy growth of the
fungus. Infection at the seedling stage may cause complete death of seedlings.
Fungus: Peronospora parasitica. It is an obligate parasite. Mycelium is inter- and
intra-cellular, haustoria are finger-shaped.
Sporangiophores are erect,
dichotomously branched at acute angles and final branches (sterigmata) are with
curved pointed tips. Dichotomous branching occurs 6 to 8 times at the tip of the final
branches. Each sterigma bears a sporangium at its tip. Sporangia are not papillate
and germinate by germ tubes and not by zoospores. Oospores are globose and
yellow.
5. Black rot
Symptoms: Disease causes development of v shaped chlorotic to yellow lesions
from the leaf margin. Veins and veinlets turn black and the leaf tissues become
necrotic and brittle. Lesions progress towards the midrib from where systemic
infection spreads into stem and root. Vascular tissues in affected plants become
conspicuously black followed by internal breakdown of fleshy tissues. Black sunken
spots are seen on succulent seed stalks and siliqua. Heads of cauliflower are
invaded and discoloured. Young plants may be killed in the seed bed.
Bacterium: Xanthomonas campestris pv. campestris. It is a Gram negative and
rod-shaped bacterium.
POTATO
1. Early blight
Symptoms: Disease is present both in hills and plains. Brown spots are found on
the surface of older leaf and subsequently spread to top younger leaves. They are
oval, circular or irregular with concentric rings. They are less than 1 cm in dia, dry
and become brittle. Several spots coalesce and cover the entire leaf. Symptoms
are observed on petioles and stem as brown lesions. The leaves show dark brown,
circular or irregular sunken spots. Internal tissues turn brown and corky.
Fungus: Alternaria solani. Mycelium is brown and septate. Conidiophores emerge
through stomata and are dark brown, erect and septate. Conidia are yellowish brown
with vertical and cross septations (5 to10) and provided with a prominent beak.. They
are formed singly at the tip of conidiophore.
2. Late blight
Symptoms: On the leaves water-soaked lesions develop which later enlarge rapidly
and cover the entire surface. These spots turn purple brown and finally black in 2 to
3 days. White fungal growth is seen at border of the lesions on lower surface of
leaves. The disease spreads to petioles, rachis and stem. On the stem, black
lesions are observed on nodes. Stem breaks at this point and the plant topples over.
Soon entire leaf is infected and dies. On tubers purplish or brownish blotches
develop on the exposed side over the soil. The tissues of the tuber become reddish
brown upto 5 to 15 mm into the flesh of the tuber. Later the affected areas become
firm and dry and somewhat sunken. The rot continues even after harvest.
Secondary fungi and bacteria causing soft rots may subsequently invade infected
tubers. Such rotting tubers emit putrid smell.
Fungus:
Phytophthora infestans. Mycelium is hyaline and coenocytic. The
sporangiophores emerge through stomatal opening with branches. The branches will
TAPIOCA / CASSAVA
the apex of each conidiophore. They are slightly curved with both ends bluntly
rounded, 2 to 8 septate and pale olivaceous. Perithecia are brown to black. Asci are
elongate, clavate, eight spored and sessile. Ascospores are ovoid, uniseptate and
constricted at the septum.
4. Cassava mosaic
Symptoms: Infected leaves exhibit chlorotic areas and distortion in leaflets. Leaves
are reduced in size, misshapen and twisted with bright yellow areas separated by
normal green tissue. Tubers show longitudinal splitting.
Causal agent: Indian Cassava mosaic virus (ICMV).
Vector: Bemisia tabaci (White fly).
SUGARBEET
1. Damping off and Root rot
Symptoms
Damping off: It causes pre-emergence and post- emergence damping off.
Root rot: This phase is characterized by yellowing, wilting and drying of the plants
involving all the aerial parts. Infected roots show externally a deep brown
discolouration.
Fungus: Pythium aphanidermatum.
In addition to P. aphanidermatum, P.
debaryanum and P. ultimum are also responsible for causing damping off and root
rot. The oospores serve as overwintering / oversummering organs and are the
primary source of inocula in the soil.
2. Sclerotium root rot
Symptoms: The disease attacks the plant and causes yellowing and wilting. The
fungus causes rotting of roots and tubers. Root rot affected plants can be easily
pulled out.
Fungus: Sclerotium rolfsii. Mycelium is hyaline, branched and septate. Sclerotia are
round to oblong and measure 0.7 to 3.0 mm in diameter.
3. Rhizoctonia root rot
Symptoms: It causes crown rot and dry root rot of sugarbeet. In crown rot, basal
portion of the petiole blackens and subsequently the entire crown of the plant rots. In
dry root rot, roots in upper 1-2 cm layer show sunken lesions. Beneath these lesions
pockets of spongy tissues develop.
R. bataticola: It causes charcoal rot mostly in crops over four months age. Numerous
small, black, round sclerotia are seen on the diseased roots. On the petiole pycnidia
are seen.
Fungi: Rhizoctonia solani The sclerotia are irregular, brown to black and are 5 mm
in dia. The fungus also produces both terminal and intercalary barrel shaped
chlamydospores.
R. bataticola The sclerotia measure up to 1 mm in dia. In the pycnidial stage, the
fungus produces globose pycnidia and hyaline, oval to elliptical pycnidiospores.
4. Phoma disease
Symptoms: The fungus produces the following symptoms
Seedling blight: Diseased seedlings exhibit black lesions on primary roots, just
below the collar region.The lesions extends towards the base and show severe
necrosis of root rip.
Leaf spot: Necrotic spots of circular to oval with light to dark brown concentric rings
with diffused margin appear on the leaves. Black dot-like pycnidia are often
observed on the spot.
Stem rot: Infected plants remain stunted and ripen prematurely. Severe infection of
basal stem leads to withering of plants. Infection spreads from lower end to the
upper end of flowering stalks.
Storage rot: Tubers from diseased plants carry incipient infection of the fungus and
cause rotting during storage.
Fungus: Phoma betae The fungus produces pycnidia and pynidiospores. Pathogen
is both seed and soil-borne. Primary infection is through seed-borne inoculum and
the secondary spread is through rain splashes and irrigation water.
Fungus: Erysiphe betae. Mycelium is on the upper surface of host leaves. Conidia
produced on condiospores are barrel shaped, hyalilne, unicellular and thin walled.
The fungus survives in the form of cleistothecia in infected plant debris. Air-borne
conidia cause secondary infection in the field.
8. Bacterial blight
Symptoms: Symptoms usually appear on the leaves of young seedlings. Small
depression appears on either side of the cotyledons which become water-soaked,
soft and black. Several lesions occur in single cotyledon and cause distortion.
Serious infections cause blighting of leaves and stalks. Under moist conditions the
dead parts become slimy and necrosis spreads quickly in to the veins and the leaf
petiole. The upper stem and inflorescence are streaked dark brown and necrotic
blotches appear on the leaves.
Bacterium: Pseudomonas syringae. Gram negative, rod shaped bacterium with
polar flagella. Bacterium is seed-borne.
9. Bacterial scab
Symptoms: Small, brownish and slightly raised spots appear on fleshy tap root.
Later they enlarge, coalesce and become very corky.The rounded, wart-like growths
are sparsely scattered over the tap root and often they are concentrated in bands.
Two types of scab viz., shallow and deep scabs are found in sugerbeet.
Bacterium: Streptomyces scabies. The hyphae are slender, branched without cross
walls and at maturity these aerial hyphae forms chain of three to many spores.
Sporogenous hyphae are spiral in form. Spores are produced by the formation of
septa at intervals along the hypha which contract to form narrow isthmuses between
the cells.The spores germinate by means of one or two germ tubes.
The bacterium survives in infected plant debris and in the soil. The bacterial
are spread through soil water, wind-blown soil and cultural operations. Young roots
are more susceptible to infection than older roots.
10. Heart rot
Heart rot or brown heart or internal black spot is caused by deficiency of
boron.
Questions to be answered
1. What is plasmodium?
2. What is hypertrophy and hyperplasia?
3. Mention thesexual spore produced by white rust pathogen
4. The teleomorph of Cercospora henningsii is ___________
True or False
1. Leaf spot with concentric rings is common in Cercospora
2. Cleistothecium is an asexual fruiting body produced by powdery mildew fungus
3. Production of shot-hole symptom is a characteristic feature of Collettrichum
4. Sporangia are the asexual spores of Erysiphe
5. Longitudinal splitting of tubers is observed in cassava infected with ICMV
6. Bacterial ooze is seen in potato tubers infected with brown rot pathogen
Differentiate
1. Downy mildew and powdery mildew of cucurbits
2. Downy mildew and white rust of crucifers
3. Early blight and late blight of potato
Ex. No. 10
Date:
ONION
1. Purple blotch / Scald disease
Symptoms: This occurs mainly at the top of the leaves. The infection starts with
whitish minute dots on the leaves with irregular chlorotic areas on tip portion of the
leaves. Later circular to oblong concentric black velvety rings of fruiting bodies
appear in the chlorotic area. The lesions develop towards the base of the leaf.
Sometimes a yellow halo develops around each lesions. The leaves break at the
point of infection and hang down. The infection is also seen on the outer scales of
the bulb. The disease causes premature drying of the foliage which results in poor
development of bulbs. Bulbs become dry and papery.
Fungus:
Alternaria porri.
Mycelium is branched, coloured and septate.
Conidiophores arise singly or in groups, straight or flexuous, sometimes geniculate,
septate and mid brown. Conidia are solitary, straight or curved and obclavate. The
body of the conidium may be ellipsoid, tapering to the beak. The beak is about the
same length as the body, mid-golden brown and smooth. They are with 8 to 12
transverse septa and zero to several longitudinal septa. The beak is flexuous, pale
and is tapering.
2. Basal rot / Bulb rot
Symptoms: The disease is seen from 30 days old crop. It occurs in patches. The
leaves turn yellow and then dry up slowly. The affected plant shows drying of the leaf
tip downwards. The entire plant shows complete drying of the foliage. The bulb
shows soft rotting and they get rotted. There will be a whitish mouldy growth on the
bulb scales. The bulbs decay in storage.
Fungus:
Fusarium oxysporum f.sp. cepae. The fungus produces many
chlamydospores which are thick walled resting spores and microconidia (one celled
thick walled).
3. Smut
Symptoms: The fungus attacks seedlings. Dark lesions occur on the cotyledons as
they emerge. These lesions develop into thickened areas of several millimeters in
size. The lesions burst open and release masses of black spores. Infected plants are
killed within 3 to 4 weeks of emergence. Surviving plants are stunted with short,
brittle, distorted leaves bearing lesions throughout their length. In the matured plants
numerous black blisters are found both on the leaves and bulb scales. Bulbs are
usually small.
Fungus: Urocystis cepulae. The sori of Urocystis contain dark coloured and
powdery spore masses. The spores are found in permanent balls. Each ball
consists of an enveloping cortex of tinted, sterile bladder-like cells with one or two
central dark coloured thick-walled chlamydospores (smut spores). The sterile cells
are smaller than the spores. The spores germinate by means of a short promycelium
while still in the ball. The promycelium does not produce the apical whorl of sporidia,
instead hyphae break apart into independent units and these cells function as spores
producing thalli.
4. Downy mildew
Symptoms: In systemic infection (when the plants are grown from a diseased bulb)
the plants remain stunted distorted and pale green. In humid atmosphere the downy
growth of the fungus develops over the entire leave surface. In dry weather and only
white spots are seen. In local infections caused by wind-borne conidia, oval to
cylindrical pale spots are formed on the leaves containing alternating green and
chlorotic zones. In humid weather, the fungus develops as white to purplish downy
growth on these spots. Usually the older leaves are attacked first and the infection
spread to the sheath. Inner leaves are then affected but new and young central
leaves remain healthy. If the leaf is attacked in the middle part, it drops from the
point of infection and the tip dries. The plants are stunted with succulent neck. Such
plants produce only undersized bulbs. Succulent necks are subject to attack by fungi
and bacteria in storage. The fungus can invade floral parts and can infect a small
proportion of the seed.
Fungus: Peronospora destructor. Mycelium is coenocytic and intercellular with
filamentous haustoria. The conidiophores are non-septate and swollen at the base.
Branching is dichotomous. Sterigmata are subacute or acute. Conidia are pyriform
and attached to the sterigmata by their pointed end. These conidia germinate by one
or two germ tubes. Oogonia are formed in the intercellular spaces.
5. Smudge
Symptoms: It is a disease of scales of the bulb and appears at any time in the plant
and during transport or storage. Subcuticular black smudge (black stroma of the
fungus) is seen on bulb, neck or green leaves which are clinging to the bulb after
digging. The black colour may be uniform or it is with circular lesions with concentric
rings of dark stroma and mycelium. When seen with hand lens bristles can be seen
inner scales show small, sunken and yellow lesions. Under humid weather pinkish
mass of spores are seen.
Fungus: Colletotrichum circinans. Mycelium is septate and branched. The fungus
produces acervuli which contain thick walled, dark, 0-3 septate setae. Conidia are
hyaline, fusiform and one celled. They germinate by one or two germ tubes.
GARLIC
3. Pink root
Symptoms: The roots turn pink or reddish and sometimes darken to a red or purple
colour. Black spores form on the diseased roots which eventually shrivel and die.
Diseased plants can be easily pulled. The above ground symptoms are stunting and
yellowing, tip burn and die-back of the leaves.
Fungus: Pyrenochaeta terrestris (Syn: Phoma terrestris).
CORIANDER
2. Wilt
Symptoms: The plants are attacked at all stages of growth. The severity of disease
increases with age. Wilting is sudden instead of being gradual. The disease can be
easily recognized in the field by drooping of the terminal portions, followed by
withering and drying of leaves, eventually resulting in death. Discolouration of
vascular system of the root is observed. Partial wilting is also found. Sterility is often
noticed in such plants. Seeds if formed are immature and light. Severe infection in
the early stage results in total failure of the crop.
Fungus: Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. corianderii. The fungus produces macro, micro
conidia and chlamydospores. The pathogen remains viable in the seed for five
months and can survive for longer period in the soil. Soil-borne inoculum is the
primary source of infection.
3. Minor diseases
Powdery mildew Erysiphe polygoni
Grain mould Alternaria sp., Curvularia sp.,
Fusarium sp. and Helminthosporium sp.
TURMERIC
1. Rhizome rot
Symptoms: Affected plants become pale, leaf tips turn yellow and infection gradually
spreads down to the leaf blade and leaf sheath along the margin. Often the middle
portion of the lamina remains green while margins turn yellow. Leaves droop, plants
wither and dry. Infected plants can be pulled out from the soil easily. Root systems
are heavily damaged. Rhizomes get discoloured, brown, mis-shaped, soft and form
a putrefying mass. It is a complex disease and is more predominant.
Fungus: Pythium aphanidermatum. The mycelium is hyaline and coenocytic.
Sporangium is lobulate, zoospores are reniform in shape and biflagellate. Oospores
are produced.
3. Leaf blotch
Symptoms: Spots appear on both the surfaces of the leaves. It first appears as
apple yellow discolouration turning to dirty yellow and then brown with chlorotic halo.
Spots coalesce forming large necrotic blotches. Ultimately the leaves dry up.
Fungus: Taphrina maculans. Mycelium is intercellular and haustoria are branched or
lobed. Each ascus contains eight ascospores.
GINGER
1. Colletotrichum leaf spot
2. Leaf blotch
: As in turmeric
: As in turmeric
CHILLIES
1. Damping off
Symptoms: Infection is observed in young seedling. Collar region becomes watersoaked and the affected portion is soft and weak. Seedlings collapse and topple
down at soil level and die. Gappiness in the nursery is noticed due to death of
seedlings in patches.
Fungus: Pythium aphanidermatum. Mycelium is coenocytic, hyaline and branched.
They are intercellular and intracellular. Sporangia are lobed and hyaline. The
oospores are spherical and thick walled.
Symptoms: Irregular, brown to dark brown spots with concentric rings observed on
the leaves. Diseased leaves become yellow and fall prematurely. Fruits show brown
irregular spots with dark brown margin. Seeds in affected fruits are discoloured.
Fungus: Alternaria solani. The fungus produces brown, septate, inter- and intracellular mycelium. Conidia are single muriform with both cross (5-10) and vertical
septa and provided with a beak at the tip.
5. Powdery mildew
Symptoms: White talcum powder- like growth is seen on the lower surface of
leaves. Very often it covers entire leaf surface. Corresponding upper surface turns
yellow. Severely diseased leaves become yellow and are shed.
Fungus: Leveillula taurica. Mycelium is purely endophytic. Conidiophores emerge
through stomatal opening in clusters of 3 or 4. Conidiophores are long, hyaline and
septate. Conidia are club or pear-shaped, single celled and hyaline.
6. Fusarium wilt
Symptoms: Leaves loose their turgidity and become flaccid. Leaves in the
branches droop, become yellow and dry. In the diseased plants, roots are brown and
poorly developed.
Fungus: Fusarium solani. The pathogen produces microconidia (hyaline, cylindrical
and 2 celled), macroconidia (falcate with blunt apical cells) and chlamydospores
(globose or oval, smooth or rough walled, intercalary or terminal).
attacked . On the green fruits round, brown coloured, raised spots with depression in
the centre are seen. Diseased green fruits turn brown or black.
Bacterium:
Xanthomonas vesicatoria (Syn. Xanthomonas campestris
vesicatoria). It is a rod shaped bacterium with polar flagellum.
pv.
8. a. Mosaic
Symptoms: Mosaic mottling, vein banding, crinkling, smalling of leaves and
interveinal chlorosis of infected leaves. Fruits show chlorotic streaks and rough skin.
Causal agent: Potato virus Y.
Vector: Aphis craccivora, A.gossypii and Myzus persicae (Aphids).
b. Mosaic
Symptoms: Infected plants are bushy, exhibit mosaic mottling, blistering and
deformation of leaves. Small rings are also found on the leaves. Leaves become
filiform. Mottling symptoms are observed on fruits also. Flowers and fruits are few in
infected plants.
Causal agent: Cucumber mosaic virus (CMV).
Vector: Aphis craccivora, A.gossypii and Myzus persicae (Aphids).
9. Leaf curl
Symptoms: Lower and upper curling of leaves accompanied by puckering and
blistering of interveinal areas and thickening and swelling of veins are the main
symptoms. Internodes are shortened and plants are stunted. Fruiting is stopped and
if formed they are small and deformed.
Causal agent: Tobacco leaf curl virus (TLCV).
Vector: Bemisia tabaci (Whitefly).
BETELVINE
1. Phytophthora foot rot and leaf rot / Stem rot
Symptoms:
Foot rot: The fungus attacks the veins at all stages of crop growth. The initial
symptoms of the disease are sudden wilting of vines rows after rows. The affected
vines show yellowing and drooping of leaves with tip downwards. The leaves
become dull due to the loss of lustre. The affected plants dry up completely within
two or three days. The succulent stem turns brown, brittle and dry as stick. The
lower portion of the stem near the soil region shows irregular, water-soaked lesions.
The roots at the nodal region show black discolouration and rotting. The stem
portion buried in the soil snaps at the nodes due to rotting. The diseased internodes
undergo a wet rot and the tissues become soft, slimy and completely rotten exposing
the fibrous parts.
Stem rot: The rotting due to the fungus is mainly confined to the stem portion buried
in the soil and above the soil level. If the seed vines are planted late during cold
weather the establishment of the vine is very poor. Seed vines snap at the nodes
and get rotten. This results in gappiness in the field.
Leaf rot: Leaf rot is seen in the young crop. The leaves near the soil region show
circular to irregular water-soaked spots. In the early stages, the affected leaves
show yellowing on the upper surface with a downy fungal growth on the
corresponding lower surface of the leaf. Later these spots turn brown. Such affected
leaves fall off prematurely. Sometimes affected spots rot and disintegrate.
Fungus: Phytophthora capsici.
2. Sclerotium wilt
Symptoms: The vine is susceptible at all stages of its growth. The plants are
usually affected at the collar region. Whitish cottony mass of fungal mycelial growth
is seen on the stem and roots. The stem rots at the point of attack and darkens up
to 10 to 12 mm above the soil line. The affected plants show drooping of leaves and
they dry up ultimately. Darkened portion of the stem shrinks, becomes soft and the
bark peels off easily. Darkening stem turns black in colour. Brown coloured mustardlike sclerotia are formed on the stem and also on the soil near the basal part of the
plant.
Fungus: Corticium rolfsii (Sclerotium rolfsii Sacc.). The hyphae are hyaline when
young and become white to ash coloured with age. Sclerotia are spherical, brown to
dark brown, shiny, smooth and are found mixed with mycelium.
3. Powdery mildew
Symptoms: The disease occurs on the tender shoots, buds and leaves and affects
the crop at all stages. The disease appears as whitish powdery patches on both the
surfaces of the leaves. Affected leaves get shriveled and deformed and the margins
of the leaves turn inwards. Such leaves turn pale and fall off easily. In older leaves
the fungus causes light brown blotches and such affected leaves are rejected when
the leaves are picked for marketing.
Fungus: Oidium piperis. Mycelium is septate. Haustoria are sac-like. Conidiophores
are simple, 2 to 3 septate and bear conidia in chains of 3 to 10. Conidia are cut off in
basipetal succession. They are unicellular, hyaline and barrel shaped.
5. Anthracnose
Symptoms: Generally older leaves show small, brownish black and circular spots.
These spots enlarge in size and develop to a size of 2 cm dia. The spots become
concentric with a light yellow halo. Acervuli as black dots are seen on the spots. The
affected leaves turn pale yellow and dry up. The infected regions gradually become
thin and dry and do not undergo any rotting. When the spots are present on the
margin of the leaves, leaf blade tends to droop owing to the shrinkage of tissues.
Such infected leaves are generally rejected at the time of picking or harvest. Some
times the central dead portion of the spot is found to fall off causing a shot-hole
symptom. Infected leaves fall off prematurely. On the stem, black, circular specks
appear under the green bark. These specks increase in size and form into narrow
streaks. Later, two or three streaks coalesce and encircle the stem completely. The
stem above the diseased internode wilts rapidly. Acervuli of the fungus are found on
stem lesions.
Fungus: Colletotrichum capsici.
PEPPER
berries occur in groups of two to five. Berries split at the lesion site. Berries dry up
resulting in hollow and chaffy berries. The word pollu in malayalam means a
hollow.
Fungus: Colletotrichum gloeosporioides. Mycelium is septate and dark. Conidia
are hyaline, single -elled and oval in shape.
3. Red rust
Symptoms: Orange brown spots appear on the leaves. Spots turn green on maturity.
Intense spotting causes withering of leaves.
Alga: Cephaleuros sp. This is an algal parasite. The alga produces thallus,
sporangiophores and sporangia on the host. All the structures are coloured.
Questions to be answered
1. Write the mode of spread of purple blotch of onion
2. The chemical which prevents the entry of Colletotrichum circinans in onion is
________________
3. Black dots appearing on the chilli fruit infected by Colletotrichum capsici
represent ________________
4. Colletortichum capsici infects ________, __________ and _______ crops
5. Phytophthora capsici infects __________ and _________ crops
True or False
1. Red scaled onions are susceptible to Colletotrichum circinans
2. Leveillula taurica produces oidiopsis type of conidia
Differentiate
1. Smut and downy mildew of onion
2. Damping off and Fusarium wilt of chillies
3. Leaf curl and mosaic of chillies
4. Phytophthora foot rot and Sclerotium wilt
5. Colletotrichum leaf spot and leaf blotch of turmeric
Ex. No. 11
Date:
TEA
1. Blister blight
Symptoms: It is a disease in the nursery and planted crop. The first visible
symptom is circular, oily, yellowish, translucent spot on the tender leaf and later it
turns into deep red shiny blisters. The circular spot gradually enlarges to 3 to13 mm
dia. bulged on the under surface of the leaf with concave trough-like depression on
the upper surface forming a classic blistered lesion. Leaves become curled and
distorted. The disease attacks first flush of 2 to 3 young leaves and kills the young
shoots and buds. Matured leaves are less affected. The disease occurs in the
nursery when the stem is 15 cm in height. Repeated attacks cause death of
seedlings.
Fungus: Exobasidium vexans. Mycelium is septate. It produces two kinds of spores
viz., conidia and basidiospores. The conidia are borne singly at the tips of long stalks.
They are hyaline, elliptical, straight or slightly curved. Basidia are long, club-shaped
and thin walled. The basidiospores are ovate or oblong and hyaline.
2. Grey blight
Symptoms: The disease appears as minute, brown spots on older leaves, which
soon turn grey. The spots are mostly irregular and several of them may coalesce to
form irregular patches. The spots have fine concentric lines. Acervuli appear as
black dots in the older spots on the upper surface. The fungus attacks plucking
points and causes die-back.
Fungus: Pestalotiopsis theae. Acervuli are globose, sub-epidermal erumpent and
dehisce rupturing epidermis by a pore. Conidiophores are hyaline and cylindrical.
Conidia are cylindrical and 5-celled with 3 filiform setulae.
3. Pink disease
Symptoms: Number of fine silky threads united into a thin film appears on the stem.
They are not found on the leaves. The fungus forms pink fructifications over affected
stems. Young branches on the outside of the bush lose their leaves and die-back.
The pink concentrations crack into smaller fractions at right angles. They are
generally confined to lower or more shaded side of branches. Barks are killed in
patches. Pink tissues become white when they become old.
Fungus: Corticium salmonicolor (Pellicularia salmonicolor)
4. Black rot
Symptoms: The disease appears normally at the end of May or early June. Small
dark-brown irregular spots appear on the leaves. They coalesce to form dark brown
patches, which eventually cover the whole leaf. Diseased leaves fall off. Before the
leaves turn black the lower surface assumes a white powdery appearance.
Fungi: Corticium invisum and C. theae.
5. Red rust
Symptoms: Small translucent watery spots appear on the leaves. On the upper
surface of the leaves, they become purple red and then black with a purple margin.
On the under surface it is purple red and it becomes grey brown when old. Infection
on new stem reduces vigour or causes death.
Alga: Cephaleuros mycoidea and C. parasiticus.
6. Sooty mould
Symptoms: A black superficial fungal growth (mycelium and spores) is seen on the
leaf, stem, branches and shoot of tea plants. The infection is superficial and
associated with the presence of scale insects and aphids. The disease reduces
photosynthetic activity of the plant.
Fungus: Capnodium spp.
COFFEE
1. Leaf rust
Symptoms: Small, yellow translucent oily spots appear on upper surface of the
young leaves. Spots enlarge into round shape of 10 to 15 mm in dia. Spots later
turn into orange yellow colour. The corresponding lower surface is covered with
orange brown, dusty, powdery growth of uredospores. The affected leaves are shed.
In severe cases complete defoliation is seen. Berries from diseased plants remain
small.
Fungus: Hemileia vastatrix. The dusty powder consists of uredospores, which are
orange-segment shaped. The convex surface is echinulated and the concave
surface is and smooth. Teleutospores are thick walled, smooth and turnip-shaped.
Aecial and pycnial stages are not noticed.
4. Sooty mould
Symptoms: Leaves, stem and berries are covered with a black fungal growth
(mycelium and spores) resulting in reduced photosynthetic activity. Wherever heavy
attack of aphids and scale insects are found sooty mould occurs. The fungus feeds
on the secretions of these insects.
Fungus: Capnodium braziliense.
COCONUT
a. Stem: The first visible symptom of the disease is found on the basal portion of
the stem. Diseased palm show exudation of reddish brown, viscous liquid from
the basal portion of the stem, up to three metres. Discolouration of the stem and
internal rotting are commonly noticed up to the height of bleeding (exudation). In
advanced stages the basal portion of the stem decays completely. Some palms
show wilting symptoms without external bleeding. In some trees, the bark of the
stem peels off. In diseased palms in the advanced phase or in dead palms the
fructifications of the fungus can be observed at the base of the tree just above the
ground level as a bracket.
b. Leaves: In the diseased palms the leaflets in the outer one or two whorls show
yellowing and drooping. In advanced stages of infection, the remaining leaves
droop down in quick succession leaving the spindle leaf alone. Delayed
production of new leaves and reduction in the size of leaves are the other
symptoms. Outer leaves fall off. The spindles become short and do not unfold
properly.
or cream at first and turn brown later. Pores are small and round. Basidiospores are
thick-walled, brown, minutely verrucose and truncate at one end.
2. Bud rot
Symptoms: Primary symptoms consist of pale colour, bending over, browning and
breaking down of the heart leaf or central shoot. The affected heart leaf comes off
easily when it is pulled. The young leaves lose colour and droop before the heart
leaf breaks down. At the base of these young leaves brown sunken spots develop
affecting a long strip of leaf tissue. When rotting extends downward the surrounding
whorl become dull yellow. Later it becomes brown. Young nuts cease to develop
and fall off prematurely. The softer infected portion will be rotten and degenerated to
slimy mass emitting foul smell. When the growing bud is affected the tree is killed.
Trees of all ages are affected. But young trees are severely infected. The period
taken for withering of heart leaf depends on the point of infection and relative
humidity.
Fungus: Phytophthora palmivora. The hyphae are intercellular. Sporangia are ovoid
with the widest part near the base, papillate and with a short pedicel. The base of
the sporangium is usually rounded and attached with the sporangiophore almost at
right angle. The zoospores are biflagellate and motile. Chlamydospores are 30 to 40
mm in dia. Oospores are 30 mm in size.
3. Stem bleeding
Symptoms: The characteristic symptom of the disease is the exudation of a dark
reddish brown fluid from cracks in the outer tissue of the stem. The fluid turns black
as it dries up on the bark. The tissues beneath the bleeding patches decay and
become yellow. In the early stages, the decay of the internal tissue is localized but
as the disease progresses, these patches coalesce resulting in a general decay. The
infection may occur anywhere on the trunk but is rarely observed on the soft portion
immediately below the crown.
The symptoms exhibited by young trees are different. On young palms the
spread of the disease is more rapid. The external patches do not indicate the extent
of the internal decay. The infected trees are not killed generally but their yield is
reduced. The trees may become very thin at the top and they are likely to be broken
by wind.
Fungus: Ceratostomella paradoxa.(Thielaviopsis paradoxa). T.paradoxa produces
pale brown to brown hyphae. Conidiophores are slender, arising laterally from the
hyphae and produce cylindrical endoconidia. Matured endoconidia are hyaline to
pale brown and smooth walled. Chlamydospores are terminal in chains, oval, thickwalled and brown. The perithecial stage is Ceratostomella (=Ceratocysis) paradoxa.
Perithecia are partly immersed and light brown. Perithecia are ostiolate. Ascospores
are ellipsoid with unequally curved sides, hyaline, non-septate and smooth.
5. Pencil point
Symptoms: Affected trees produce a fewer small leaves with yellowing. The stem
tapers gradually and small crown fails to produce new leaves and trunk remains
barren like a pointed pencil.
Cause: Pencil point disease is caused due to micronutrients deficiency like boron,
zinc, manganese, iron, copper and molybdenum.
ARECANUT
4. Stem bleeding
Symptoms: During initial stages, small, discoloured depressions appear on the
basal portion of the stem. Later the spots coalesce and cracks develop on the stem.
Hollowness develop inside the stem upto varying depths. Crowns of affected palms
get reduced in size followed by reduction in yield. Finally a dark brown liquid oozes
out from the cracks.
Fungus: Thielaviopsis paradoxa.
Differentiate
1. Blister blight and grey blight of tea
CROPS
(Rose, Jasmine, Crossandra and Chrysanthemum)
ROSE
1. Powdery mildew
Symptoms: Raised blister-like areas with greyish white powdery growth are seen on
the leaves. Young shoots and flower buds are also infected. Affected young leaves
curl and are distorted. Older leaves show usually little distortion. Diseased flower
buds may not open and dry later.
Fungus: Sphaerotheca pannosa var. rosae. (The fungus is of Oidium type).
Mycelium is septate, white and sends globose haustoria into epidermal cell. Conidia
are oval-shaped and are produced in chains (5 to 10) on short, erect conidiophores.
The fungus produces cleistothecia with myceloid appendages. Each cleistothecium
(ascocarp) contains only one large ascus. Asci are subglobose and each ascus
contains eight ascospores. Ascospores are spherical.
2. Black spot
Symptoms: Characteristic black spots appear on the leaves. Spots are more or less
circular with fringed margin. Black colour of the spot is prominently seen on the
upper leaf surface. Yellow halo is present around matured spots. Affected leaves
become yellow and fall off, prematurely leaving the canes almost completely
defoliated. Raised, purple to red blotches are seen on immature wood of first-year
canes.
Fungus: Diplocarpon rosae. The fungus produces ascospores in tiny apothecia and
Marssonina type conidia in acervuli.
3. Die-back
Symptoms: Pruned twigs of the bushes show drying from tip downwards and
become black. The disease passes from the branch / twig to the main stem and from
there to the roots killing the whole plant. Stem and roots show browning of the
internal tissues.
Fungus: Diplodia rosarum. The fungus produces pycnidia and pycnidiospores.
4. Rust
Symptoms: Orange to lemon yellow coloured pustules are seen on the under
surface of the leaves which later turn to brick red in colour (uredial stage). Minute
black hair-like tufts are produced on the under surface of the leaves (telial stage).
Diseased leaves turn yellow and fall prematurely. Bushes are weakened and may
die-back.
Fungus: Phragmidium mucronatum. Aeciospores are orange yellow. Uredospores
are single celled, ellipsoid or ovate, echinulate, orange-yellow and stalked.
Teliospores are dark, cylindrical, 6 to 8 celled with a pointed papilla.
JASMINE
1. Fusarium wilt
Symptoms: Plants of all age are attacked and wilt occurs in patches. Top leaves wilt
and bottom leaves show yellowing. Yellowing spreads upward resulting in death of
the plant. Roots show black discolouration.
Fungus: Fusarium solani
2. Leaf spot
Symptoms: Dark brown, irregular spots appear on the leaf surface. Spots join
together to form bigger lesions. Elongated and light brown lesions are found on the
leaf stalks.
Fungus: Cercospora jasminicola. Mycelium is septate and dark coloured. The
conidia are septate and pale to olivaceous, obclavate-cylindrical, straight to mildly
curved. The base of the conidia is obconically truncate and its tip is subobtuse.
3. Rust
Symptoms: It attacks all aerial parts and cause blisters or tumours. It produces
orange pustules predominantly on lower surface. Infected plant parts are
hypertrophied. In severe cases leaves become yellow and defoliate. Oval and
orange cankers are seen on stems and twigs. Flower buds are swollen, deformed
and do not open. Flower production is highly reduced. Splitting of barks in branches
subsequently lead to its death.
Fungus: Uromyces hobsonii. It is an autoecious rust.
5. Phyllody
Symptoms: Clustering of the leaves and bushy appearance of the plants are the
characteristic symptoms. The leaves become linear and small and are closely
arranged. In the place of flowers, green, leafy and malformed flowers are seen.
Causal agent: Phytoplasma.
Vector: Dialeurodes kirkaldii (Whitefly)
CROSSANDARA
1. Wilt
Symptoms: The disease is noticed in plants one month after transplanting. Initially
leaves turn pale green or yellow and later change into pink colour. Drooping of
leaves and wilting of plants are noticed.
Fungus: Fusarium solani. Mycelium is hyaline and septate. Microconidia,
macroconidia and chlamydospores are produced. The disease is associated with the
root lesion nematode, Pratylenchus delatreii.
2. Root rot
Symptoms: Sudden wilting of plants in patches is noticed. The leaves droop, dry
and the plant dies. The roots rot, bark shreds and decay and show large number of
sclerotia.
Fungus: Macrophomina phaseolina. The mycelium is dark coloured and septate.
The sclerotia are brown to black and spherical to irregular in shape.
CHRYSANTHEMUM
1. Blotch / Leaf spot
Symptoms: Blackish-brown. Circular to irregular spots appear on leaves. Each spot
is surrounded by yellow halo. They coalesce with one another and form large
patches covering major portion of the leaf. In severe infection, the leaves remain
small and curl. The dead leaves hang on the stem for sometime.
Fungus: Septoria chrysanthemella. Pycnidia are numerous, dark, sub-epidermal,
globose and ostiolate. Conidia are hyaline, filiform, straight or flexuous, oftern curved
or worm-like, transversely septate (1-4 septate).
2. Aspermy
Symptoms: Mild mosaic mottling with marked distortion of the flowers. The flowers
borne on the diseased plants are small in size and are distorted with irregular
curllings and waviness of the ray florets. The central disc florets remain green and
stunted. Line pattern with diffused chlorotic mottling appear on the new leaves.
Causal agent: Chrysanthemum aspermy virus. The aphids spread aspermy disease
3. Stunt
Symptoms: Plants and flowers are smaller and paler. Some flowers may appear
bleached and inferior in quality. Flowers from diseased plants open 7 10 days
earlier than flowers from healthy plant. Axillary buds often grow prematurely and
produce excess number of branches and stolons. Cuttings from diseased plants root
poorly.
Fungus: Chrysanthemum stunt viroid (ChSV). It is transmitted through sap and
through knives or tools during cultural operations.
4. Minor diseases
Cercospora leaf spot Cercospora chrysanthemi
Alternaria leaf spot and blossom blight Alternaria tenuis and A. chrysanthemi
Powdery mildew Erysiphe cichoracearum and Oidium chrysanthemi
Questions to be answered
1. Anamorph of Diplocarpon rosae is _______________
2. Sphaerotheca pannosa var rosae produces __________ type of conidia
3. How the powdery mildew of rose survives and spread?
Differentiate
1. Wilt and root rot of crossandra
Ex. No. 13
Date:
FIELD VISIT
Ex. No. 14
Date:
Objective
To estimate plant-parasitic nematode population in a particular crop/field
Materials required
Trowel, shovel, soil auger or hand hoe, polythene bag, label, rubber band,
pencil, knife Sieves, Petridish, Wiregauge, Filter paper, Centrifuge, Sugar, Conical
flask, Fendwickcan, Blender, Lactophenol and Acidfuchion Lactophenol,
Methods of sampling
1. Sampling from field crops
Select 6 rows of a field (2 from the beginning, 2 from the middle and 2
from the far end of the field)
Collect 5 subsamples each from around the trunk and drip line of the tree
Put all the subsamples in a polythene bag
Label and tie the sample
Labeling
Samples taken in polythene bag should be labeled with the following
details.
i
Location
ii
Host/crop and stage of crop
iii
Variety
iv
Previous crop
v
Date of sampling
vi
Soil type
vii
Name of the collector
Important precautions
Storage of samples
Samples should be processed immediately after collection for precise results.
If immediate processing is not possible, the samples can be stored in a refrigerator at
5C for about a week.
The soil particles and nematodes settle at different rates due to differences in
their specific gravity
Mix thoroughly the composite soil sample and take 250 cc in a pan I
Add about one litre water and stir well breaking clods and clumps
Wait for 10-20 sec and pass this suspension to pan II through a 20-mesh
sieve leaving heavy soil particles in the pan I
Add one litre water to pan I and repeat the same process
Collect the filtrate in pan II and roots in a beaker discarding the remaining
materials
Stir the suspension of pan II gently, wait for a few seconds and pour it through
a series of 60, 100 and 200-mesh sieves (mesh: number of apertures/linear
inch)
Collect the residues left over 60, 100 and 200-mesh sieves separately in
beakers and label it
Pass the contents again through a 350-mesh sieve discarding the filtrate
Collect the residue left over 350-mesh sieve in a beaker and label it
Examine the contents of beakers labeled as 60 for cyst nematodes and
process 100, 200 and 350-mesh residues further for separating nematodes
The active and motile nematodes tend to move towards water surface
through tissue paper and get collected at the base of rubber tube due to
gravitational force whereas inert soil particles and debris remain on the tissue
paper
Procedure
Place double layers of tissue paper over a wire gauze (mesh) and place it on
the funnel
Allow the nematode suspension to settle, decant the supernatant, pour the
remaining suspension on to the tissue paper set up
Add water in such a way that the lower surface of the wire gauze touches the
water
Collect the nematode suspension carefully after 24-48 h, by releasing the
Hoffmans clip
Advantages
Disadvantages
Procedure
Process the soil sample by Cobbs decanting and sieving technique and
collect the suspension in a beaker
Distribute the suspension into the centrifugal tubes equally and add water, if
necessary, to bring the level equally in the tube to 0.5 cm from the top
Centrifuge at 3500 rpm for three minutes
Discard the supernatant solution and retain the soil residue containing
nematodes
Fill half of the tubes with sugar solution of 1.18 specific gravity, shake well
and fill again with the sugar solution up to 0.5 cm from the top (For
preparation of sugar solution of 1.18 specific gravity, dissolve 484g sugar in
water and make up the volume to one litre and add 10% lactic acid in water to
inhibit the bacterial and mould growth)
Centrifuge at 3500 rpm for one minute
Decant the supernatant suspension from each tube through 350-mesh sieve
Never leave nematodes in sugar solution for longer time and so wash the
residues on the sieves repeatedly to remove the sugar solution
Transfer the residues on the sieve to a beaker for observation
Extraction of cysts
4. Conical flask method
Principle
Dry cysts lighter in weight will float in water and adhere to the sides of the
container due to surface tension
Procedure
Dry cysts lighter in weight will float in water and adhere to the sides of the
container due to surface tension
Procedure
Fill the Fenwick can with water and place the dry sample in the 20 mesh sieve
(Fenwick can is a brass can having a broad inclined base and narrow neck
provided with a 20-mesh sieve over a funnel. Outside the neck of the can, a
collar is attached with 60-mesh sieve to drain water. The can is provided with
a drain plug at the bottom)
Wash the shade dried sample with water into the apparatus
Cysts will pass on to the collar region and get collected in 60-mesh sieve
Allow the water to drain
Wash the contents of the sieve into a white enamel basin
Collect the floating cysts in periphery of the basin
Methods
1. Direct examination
Procedure
Wash the infested plant material thoroughly and chop into small pieces
Procedure
Remove the nematodes, which have migrated out of the roots by flushing the
roots with water for three times
Pass the washed water through 350-mesh sieve and collect the residue into a
beaker with little water
On maceration of the infested roots, the nematodes get separated from the
root tissues because of mechanical force
Procedure
Ex. No. 15
Date:
Objective:
Procedure
Examine the given specimens under microscope and identify them with the
following characters.
Saprophyte (free living)
Parasite
Stylet is present
Slow in movement
Stylet is absent
Comparatively faster in movement
: Sugarcane, cotton
Morphology
Body
Head
: High, set off, rounded with massive sclerotization having cap like lip
Stylet
Male
Oesophagus
: With slender anterior tube and wide posterior part (bottle shaped)
Tail
Female
Identification of nematodes
A. Stunt nematode, Tylenchorhynchus
Major hosts
Morphology
Body
Stylet
Oesophagus : Typical with well developed median bulb, abutting basal glands
Female
Male
Head
Stylet
: Well developed, long, 3-4 times the lip width with rounded or cup
shaped knobs
rarely reduced and nonfunctional, usually fully developed; tail short, dorsally round
to nearly pointed convex to conoid or hemispherical with short projection on ventral
side
Male
Stylet
Male
Morphology
Body
Stylet
Oesophagus : With a strong median bulb which is fused with the procarpus, glands
forming small posterior bulb; males with degenerated oesophagus
Female
Male
Morphology
Body
Head
Male
Morphology:
Body
Stylet
Morphology
Immature female
Vermiform, small (<0.5 mm); head - continuous, round, sclerotization weak;
stylet medium with round basal knob; oesophagus strong but median bulb not
well separated from procorpus; vulva very posterior; ovary monodelphic,
anteriorly outstretched; excretory pore slightly anterior to the vulva; tail conical,
no anus or rectum
Mature female
Anterior part slender, irregular with thin cuticle; posterior part swollen with
thick cuticle and projecting tail, vulva and excretory pore very posterior; ovary
monodelphic, anterior, convoluted; no anus or rectum
Male
Vermiform, short and slender; cephalic sclerotization, stylet and oesophagus
reduced; spicule slightly curved, no bursa; tail conical, pointed
Juvenile
: Short in males with rounded basal knobs, more than 0.02mm long in
Juveniles
Oesophagus: With well developed median bulb and lobe extending back and
overlapping the intestine
Female
Male
Morphology
Similar to Heterodera, but the cyst is globose; vulva and anus are not on a
terminal cone, vulval slit is surrounded by a single, circular fenestra.
Female
Male
Ex. No. 16
Date:
Aphelenchoides ritzemabosi
Nematode feeds on flower primordia and completes its life cycle and the infested
flower primordium develops into gall containing large number of nematodes.
Wheat
Anguina tritici
Necrosis and discolouration
Some nematodes live and feed within the tissues of stem and leaves causing varying
degree of necrosis and discoloration.
Onion and garlic
- Ditylenchus dipsaci
- Aphelenchoides ritzemabosi
Leaf gall
Nematodes that feed on leaves produce galls on the leaves of their host plants.
These are comparable to seed galls and they serve as structures in which the
parasites mature and reproduce.
Solanum elaegnifolium
- Ditylenchus phyllobia
Pratylenchus coffeae
Globodera rostochiensis
Aphelenchoides besseyi
Tylenchulus semipenetrans
Stunting/poor growth
Wheat and barley
Potato
Peas
Heterodera avenae
Globodera rostochiensis
Meloidogyne incognita
Day wilting
Plants infested with the root knot nematodes tend to wilt in hot weather even though
enough moisture is present in the soil. It is called as day wilt.
Broad leaved plants like tobacco and brinjal Meloidogyne incognita
Patchy appearance
Unlike nutrient deficiency, the nematode infested plants can be seen in patches here
and there due to random distribution of nematodes in the field.
Vegetables
Meloidogyne incognita
Potato
Globodera rostochiensis
Malformations
Ditylenchus angustus
Ditylenchus dipsaci
- Meloidogyne spp.
Other nematodes also produce smaller galls but without the formation of giant cells.
Oat, rye and wheat
Ditylenchus radicicola
Citrus
Hemicycliophora arenaria
Rose
Xiphinema diversicaudatum
Marygold
Longidorus sp.
Nodule
Attached laterally on the side of the root
Can be detached easily
Soft
Inner content is pinkish
Uniform size and shape
Rotylenchulus reniformis
Stubby root
The lateral roots produce excessive rootlets. The resultant root system is
composed of numerous short stubby branches arranged in clusters giving a stubby
appearance.
Sugarcane
Trichodorus sp.
Coarse root
When the lateral roots are completely fed by nematodes, the main roots will
be devoid of any rootlets. This symptom is called as coarse root system.
Corn
Belonolaimus longicaudatus
Root proliferation
Nematode attack on young roots stimulates the branching of rootlets near the
region of invasion.
Tomato
Meloidogyne hapla
Root lesion
Migratory endoparasites, which feed on root cortex or epidermis, produce elongate
brown coloured necrotic lesions due to accumulation and oxidation of phenolic
compounds on the feeding site. These lesions are clearly visible by splitting the
affected roots longitudinally. The lesions lead to the formation of rotting or tunnels
and cavities in the roots.
Rotting of roots in many crops
- Pratylenchus spp.
- Helicotylenchus multicinctus
Fish hook
The root tip will look bent upwards.
Onion
-
Xiphinema sp.
Malformation of tubers/pods
Root-knot infestation results in malformation of below ground tubers/pods.
Groundnut
M. arenaria
Potato
M. incognita
CERTIFICATE
Certified
that
this
is
the
bonafide
record
of
Selvan/
Selvi
COURSE TEACHERS
EXTERNAL EXAMINER
INTERNAL EXAMINER
CONTENTS
Name of the Student :
Year
Batch
I.D. No.
Academic Year
Semester
Date
Title
1.
2.
3.
Diseases of pulses
(Blackgram, greengram,
pigeonpea and chickpea)
4.
Diseases of oilseeds
(Groundnut, gingelly, castor
and sunflower)
5.
6.
7.
8.
Page
No.
Date of
Sumission
Grade /
Remarks
Signature of
Teacher
9.
Diseases of cucurbits,
crucifers, potato, tapioca, and
sugarbeet
10.
11.
12.
13.
Field visit
14.
i
ii
of
iii Observation
of Endo
and Semiendo parasitic
nematodes in situ
15.
Symptoms of nematode
damage