Fungal diseases in Plants

Koleroga and Red rot of

sugarcane
• The branch of science that deals with the study of nature,
development, and control of plant disease is known as
phytopathology. Phytopathology has four main objectives.
1. Etiology – is a branch that deals with the causal organisms along
with environmental conditions that cause disease in plants.
2. Pathogenesis: It is the actual mechanism of disease development
and the phase involves complex host-pathogen interaction.
3. Epidemiology: It involves the interaction of crop, pathogen, and
environment and moreover the seasonal carryover and subsequent
dispersal of pathogens.
4. Control: It mainly deals with the development of suitable methods of
controlling the disease.
KOLEROGA OF ARECANUT
Class: Phycomycetes
Order: Perenosporales
Family: Pythiaceae
Genus: Phytopthora
Species: arecaea
Disease symptoms
• Characteristic symptom is rotting and
extensive shedding of the immature
nuts which lie scattered near the base of
the tree.
• Initial symptoms appear as dark green/
yellowish water-soaked lesions on the
nut surface near the perianth (calyx).
• The infected nuts lose their natural
green luster, quality and hence have a
low market value.
• The lesions on the fruits gradually
spread covering the whole surface
before or after shedding which
consequently rot.
Disease symptoms
• White mycelial mass envelopes on entire surface of the fallen nuts.
• As the disease advances the fruit stalks and the axis of the inflorescence rot and
dry, sometimes covered with white mycelial mats.
• Infected nuts are lighter in weight and possess large vacuoles.
• When infection occurs later in the season, it leads to rotting and drying up of nuts
without shedding (known as ‘Dry Mahali’).

MODE OF INFECTION
• Disease spreads through heavy winds and rain splashes.
• The fruit bunches infected towards the end of rainy season may remain
mummified on the palm and such nuts provide inoculum for bud rot or crown
rot or the recurrence of fruit rot in the next season.
Favorable conditions:
• The severity, persistence and spread of fruit rot are related to the pattern of rain. The
disease appears usually 15 to 20 days after the onset of regular monsoon rains and
may continue up to the end of the rainy season.
• Continuous heavy rainfall coupled with low temperatures (20 to 23 °C), high relative
humidity 90%) and intermittent rain and sunshine hours favor the outbreak of fruit
rot.
Disease control
• Field sanitation by the destruction of the diseased tree and fallen infected nuts.
• Spray 1% Bordeaux mixture or copper oxychloride (5g/L) on the bunches and crown
during monsoon and subsequently twice at 40 days intervals along with stickers as a
prophylactic measure in disease-prone areas.
• Collect and destroy the fallen nuts.
• In disease-prone areas, adopt proper spacing of palms.
• Provide proper drainage.
• Regular manuring and proper cultural practices reduce the disease incidence.
RED ROT OF SUGARCANE
Class: Deuteromycetes
Order: Melanconiales
Family: Melanconiaceae
Genus: Colletotrichum falcatum
Perfect stage: Glomerella tucumanensis
Introduction
• RED ROT was first described in Java 1983 under the name red-smut
and it soon became a major cause of the decline of several varieties
of sugarcane in the USA, Australia, India and Hawaii.
• Significant losses due to the disease occur almost every year in
Haryana, U.P and Bihar.
• Red rot is a serious disease of sugarcane in subtropical parts of the
world. The disease has been recognized as of international
importance.
 Symptoms

• It is difficult to recognize the disease in its early stages in the field.

• The first symptoms of the diseases are seen after the rainy season when
the plant stops growing and sucrose starts forming.
• The disease appears on all parts above the ground, but stems and midrib
areas of leaves are affected most.
• In early stage, drooping of leaves and the loss of their colour can be seen
in the field.
• Later, the cane also starts developing the symptoms.
• The canes are completely rotten within, the rind looses its natural bright
colour, becomes dull and shrinks at the nodes.
• When fructifications of the pathogen are formed, the lesions are covered
with a powdery mass of conidia.
 Disease symptoms
• By this time the leaves begin to wither at tips and finally wither completely and droop.
• Split open stems show longitudinally-reddened tissues of internodes usually at the base.
• Reddening is most severe in the vascular bundles extending to the pith.
• The juice often gives a bad odour due to conversion of sucrose into glucose and alcohol.
• Later in the season, minute velvety dark dot-like structures, acervuli develop near the nodes of
diseased canes.
• On the midribs of leaves, infection originates as a dark reddish area, which elongates rapidly,
forming blood-red lesions with dark margin.
• In old lesions, the centre becomes straw coloured and after formation of conidia, these become
covered with powdery mass
Major symptoms
• Yellowing of Leaf, drooping
• Stem- red blotch
• Alcohol fermentation
LIFE CYCLE
• The disease is caused by Colletotrichum falcatum (perfect state-Glomerella
tucumanensis).
• The mycelium once inside the host grows rapidly.
• Hyphae are slender, branched, septate, colorless, inter and intercellular.
• The hyphae in the lumen of vascular bundles grow out rapidly.
• The host cell protoplasm changes its color and a gummy dark substance.
oozes out of cells filling the intercellular spaces.
• The hyphae produce large number of chlamydospores in the pith of the
sugarcane.
• These can survive in soil for a long time.
• The hyphae collect beneath the epidermis and form a stroma of dense cells,
• Long hair like rigid setae,100-200 micrometer long, dark below, lighter
above develop, around and in the stroma. This is the developing acervulus.
• These acervuli have conidiospores which are small, aseptate, 20X 8µm.
• Conidia are 1-celled, usually falcate, hyaline and densely granular.
• Acervuli are formed on surface of rind as minute structures.
• Conidia are disseminated by wind, rain/ water of irrigation, raindrop splash
and insects.
• They germinate soon in presence of water and may spread the disease to
new healthy tissues of host plant
Control measures
 Field sanitation and crop rotation.
 Use of disease-resistant varieties such as Co846, 971, etc.,
 Treatment of seed setts with organo-mercurials like aretan or
agallol, helps in eradication of superficial inoculum.
 Treatment of seed setts with 0.5% bavistin solution reduces the
incidence of disease.
 Ratooning should be discouraged.