CORN PLANT DISEASES

What is Disease?

-Any disturbance brought about by pathogen or an

environmental factor which interferes with
manufacture , translocation, or utilization of food,
mineral nutrients and water .

- the affected plants changes in appearance and yield

 Pathogen

-Living organism ( biotic) that causes a disease

Environmental factor ( abiotic )

- excessive heat, cold , burning due fertilizer, nutrient
deficiency

Symptoms

- External manifestation expressed by the diseased host plant .

- Particular plant disease may be distinguished from other
disease . Ex. leaf spot is different from leaf blight
Common Symptoms :
1. Blast -sudden death of young leaves
2. Bleeding - flow of sap fr. wounds
3. Blight -sudden death of host tissue
4. Canker -sunken necrotic area
5. Chlorosis -yellowing
6. Curling -abnormal bending of leaves
7. Damping off -rotting of seedling
8. Die back -drying backward from tip of twigs
9. Mosaic -variegated pattern of green & yellow
10. spot -localized necrotic area
11. scab -slightly raised , rough lesion
SIGNS OF PLANT DISEASE

-Structures of the pathogen that are found /associated with

the infected plant part.

 mycelia
Spores
Bacterial ooze
Sclerotial bodies
 Fruiting bodies
Plant disease diagnosis

- is the identification of specific plant diseases through

their characteristics symptoms and signs including
other factors.

Important of diagnosis
Correct plant disease diagnosis is necessary for
recommending the appropriate control measures, and in
plant disease survey
CORN DISEASES
Seed/Seedling Stages of Corn
Seed Rot, Seedling Blight, and
Damping-Off
Symptoms :
Rotting of seeds; death prior to or shortly after
germination (damping-off); yellowing, wilting
and death of plants due to rotten roots and stems.
Causes:
Fungus (species of Pythium, Fusarium, Diplodia and
Penicillium)
Control

 Plant only good quality seed at the correct

planting depth in well-drained and properly

cultivated soil.
Downy Mildew

Symptoms
Chlorotic areas, streaks or stripes at the base of lower
leaves with increasing proportion in succeeding leaves.
Presence of whitish downy growth on the surface of
the chlorotic area.
Causal pathogen
Fungus (Peronosclerospora philippinensis, P. sorghi, P.
maydis, P.sacchari, Sclerospora graminicola,
Control

Use resistant varieties, treat seeds with fungicides, destroy

alternate weed hosts.
Early Whorl to Soft Dough Stages of Corn

1. Sugarcane Mosaic/Maize Dwarf Mosaic

Symptoms
Highly variable; irregular, light and dark green mottle or
mosaic on younger leaves that may develop into narrow, light
green or yellowish streaks along the veins. The mosaic often
appears as dark green “islands” on a chlorotic background. As
the plant develops, mosaic symptoms often disappear and
young leaves become more yellow. Stunting may be slight or
more pronounced depending on the susceptibility of the
cultivar.
Control:

Plant resistant cultivars, plant early and promptly

remove infected plants
Maize Stripe
Symptoms:
Numerous spots and narrow streaks that appear at the
base and extend outward on the youngest leaves..

Cause :
Maize stripe virus (MStpV)
Control

Plant resistant cultivars, control weed hosts and plant

hopper.
Bacterial Leaf Blight
Symptoms
Presence of long, narrow and water soaked lesions.
Old lesions become translucent and dry.
Cause
Pseudomonas avenae (P. alboprecipitans).

Control
Plant resistant var. control
aphids
Bacterial Rot
Symptoms
Manifested in the form of top rot, stalk rot, root rot
and/or ear rot. Affected tissues are soft and mushy and emit
disagreable odor.
Cause:
Erwinia chrysanthemi pv zeae
(E. carotovora var zeae).
Control

Plant resistant cultivars, provide adequate control of corn

borer either by planting Bt corn, by chemicals or cultural
practices. Avoid fields with poor drainage which are prone
to water logging.
Brown Spot
Symptoms
Young lesions are very small, oblong to round, yellowish
spots which turn chocolate brown to reddish brown and
coalesce to form irregular, angular blotches. Bigger lesions
which are dark brown are usually found in the midrib.
Lesions generally occur across the leaf blade.
Cause: Fungus (Physoderma maydis)
Control

Plant resistant varieties – most of the commercially

grown cultivars in the Philippines have adequate resistance
to the disease. Where incidence is high, practice deep
plowing.
Pythium Stalk Rot
Symptoms
Brown, soft and water-soaked areas at the base of the
stalk, just above the soil line. Lodging at the affected portion
which may be twisted or distorted, but remain green and
turgid. White, cottony mycelium of the fungus on the
surface of lesion, usually early in the morning when
there is heavy dew formation.
Cause: Pythium spp. , a soil borne pathogen

Control: use of resistant

varieties, avoid waterlogged
areas, good drainage
Control

Use of resistant cultivars, provide good drainage and

avoid waterlogged areas.
Southern Leaf Blight
Symptoms
Lesions vary from small to large elongated or oval tan to
brown spots. Under favorable conditions, lesions coalesce
resulting to complete burning
of large areas of the leaves.
Cause
Cochliobolus heterotrophus (Helminthosporium
maydis)..
Control:
Use of resistant cultivars and spraying with
fungicides.
Northern Leaf Blight

Distribution: Worldwide.
Most prevalent in cooler environments
Symptoms
Long, elliptical and grayish-green or tan lesions, ranging
from 2.5 to 15 cm in length. Grayish black moldy growth
consisting of large number of spores are produced on the
lesions, usually on the lower leaf surface. Lesions on plants
with Ht genes are smaller, chlorotic, and may develop into
linear streaks and do not sporulate.
Cause: Fungus, Setosphaeria turcica (Helminthosporium
turcicum).
Control:

Use resistant cultivars. In seed production, fields or on

sweet corn, spray with fungicides.
Gray Leaf Spot

Symptoms
Pin-point sized spots surrounded by a yellow halo, which
mature into distinctly rectangular lesions delineated by
the veins on either side which run parallel.
Cause: Fungus (Cercospora zeae-maydis)
Control

Use of resistant varieties. In seed and sweet corn

production, spray with fungicides.
Curvularia Leaf Spot
Symptoms
Lesions are small (1-2), straw-colored, circular to oval
with distinct reddish brown or dark brown margins. Lesions
may coalesce to form necrotic areas up to 1 cm long. In the
center of lesions, circular to oval, grayish spots up to 1 mm in
diameter appear. Straw-colored or chlorotic halos may
surround the lesions.

Cause: Fungus (Curvularia lunata and C. pallescens.)

Control

Disease is considered not important, hence, does not

warrant any control measures.
Southern Rust
Symptoms
Pustules of Southern rust are light cinnamon brown,
circular to oval, 0.2-2 mm long and densely scattered on the
upper leaf surface. Pustules are raised and eventually erupt
producing numerous spores which assume rusty powder.
Leaves of susceptible plants dry prematurely resulting to
yield reduction.
Cause: Puccinia polysora
Control:
Use of resistant cultivars. In seed production
fields, spray with fungicides.
Banded Leaf and Sheath Blight
Symptoms
Alternating bands of irregular blotches on the
leafsheath, leafblade and ear husks starting from the base
upward.

Cause: Rhizoctonia solani,

a soil-borne fungus.
Control:
Practice deep plowing to bury sclerotia. Avoid planting
cultivars with very low ear placement. Remove leaf sheath
above the infected portion below the ear shoot. In seed
production fields, spray with fungicides.
Diplodia Leaf Blight
Symptoms
Circular spots with gray center and dark brown border
which are distributed in bands along the leaf blade.
Elongated spots look like those of northern leaf blight but
are generally lighter. Black pycnidia are scattered on the
surface of the spots.

Cause
Diplodia macrospora
and D. maydis (S. maydis)
 Control

Avoid highly susceptible cultivars. Practice deep

plowing and field sanitation. In seed production fields,
spray with fungicides.
Common Smut
Symptoms
Galls on almost all above-ground parts which are
glistering greenish-white to silvery-white tissue and
turn black due to the masses of powdery dark olive-brown
to black spores.
Cause: Fungus (Ustilago maydis)
Control
Plant resistant cultivars. Avoid mechanical injury of
plants and follow a well balanced soil fertility program
based on soil test.
Soft Dough to Harvest of Corn
Diplodia Ear Rot

Symptoms
Bleached to straw-colored lesions starting from the base
of the ear. Husks tightly pasted together by the white
fungus mycelium. Black pycnidia scattered on the surface of
the husks, kernels and cobs.
Cause
Diplodia macrospora (Stenocarpelia macrospora and D.
maydis (S. maydis)
Control
Avoid highly susceptible cultivars. Practice deep
plowing and field sanitation.
Diplodia Stalk Rot

Symptoms
Wilting and drying of leaves above the infected nodes.
Leaves below the infected node remain green. Stalk around
the point of entry are discolored.
Cause
Diplodia macrospora (Stenocarpelia macrospora) and D.
maydis (S. maydis)
Control

Avoid highly susceptible cultivars. Practical deep

plowing and field sanitation. In seed production fields,
spray plants with fungicides directed to the plant whorl.
Fusarium Stalk Rot
Symptoms
Sudden death of plants before maturity. Whitish-pink to
salmon discoloration of the pith. Softening of affected stalk
which easily get compressed crushed when pinched.

Cause

Fusarium species, particularly F. moniliforme.

Control

Reduce stress factors on the plants through balanced

fertilization, appropriate plant population and adapted
hybrids, insect and weed control. Avoid root and stalk
injury, provide good drainage and use hybrids that are
resistant to foliar diseases.
Gibberella Ear Rot
Distribution
Worldwide, important in cooler areas of the Philippines
and Indonesia.
Symptoms
Reddish coloration starting from the tip of the ear which
progresses down the ear. Presence of numerous black
perithecia at the tip of the outer husks.

Cause
Fungus (Gibberella zeae)
Control

Plant Gibberella-resistant corn hybrids. Avoid hybrids

with very tight husk cover.
Gibberella Stalk Rot
Symptoms
Same as Diplodia stalk rot; presence of superficial, small,
round, black perithecia, often at the internode which can be
easily scraped from the stalk surface. A diagnostic sign of
Gibberella stalk rot is the reddish discoloration that occurs
inside the stalk.

Cause
Gibberella zeae
Maraming Salamat Po!!