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- Title
TEMPORAL VARIATIONS IN THE CUCURBIT POWDERY MILDEW SPECIES COMPOSITION IN NORTHERN ITALY.
- Authors
Pirondi, A.; Portillo, I.; Collina, M.; Brunelli, A.
- Abstract
Cucurbit powdery mildew is a widespread disease that causes important losses to cucurbit crops. Observations on the occurrence of Podosphaera fusca and Golovinomyces cichoracearum were conducted in the years 2010 and 2011 in Bologna and Mantova provinces (northern Italy) to determine the epidemiology and etiology of powdery mildew in these important cucurbit-growing areas. Samples of infected leaves of zucchini, melon, cucumber, pumpkin and watermelon from field and greenhouse crops, were collected every two weeks from May to October. To distinguish the two fungal species, morphological observations of conidia germ tubes, presence/absence of fibrosin bodies in 3% KOH and observation of chasmothecia were conducted. Molecular identification of both pathogens was carried out by multiplex PCR, using species-specific primers designed on the ITS region of both species and performed on a DNA pool isolated from infected leaves. The preliminary results show that the earlier infections are by G. cichoracearum that seems to be the predominant species till mid July when it progressively disappears and P. fusca becomes the main species infecting cucurbits till the end of October. Only chasmothecia of P. fusca were collected in October-November. This peculiar behavior suggests a seasonal alternance in the cucurbit powdery mildew species composition that could be explained both by the different climatic requirements of the two species and by their different overwintering strategies. Further investigations are in progress to confirm these results.
- Subjects
ITALY; POWDERY mildew diseases; CUCURBITACEAE; FUNGAL diseases of plants; PLANT diseases; PODOSPHAERA; DISEASES
- Publication
Journal of Plant Pathology, 2012, Vol 94, Issue 4, pS4.75
- ISSN
1125-4653
- Publication type
Article