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ARS Home » Midwest Area » West Lafayette, Indiana » Crop Production and Pest Control Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #121602
Title: PRECOCIOUS SPORULATION IN CERCOSPORA ZEAE-MAYDIS

Author
item LAPAIRE, C - PURDUE UNIVERSITY
item DUNKLE, LARRY

Submitted to: Phytopathology
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 8/27/2001
Publication Date: 8/27/2001
Citation: LAPAIRE, C.L., DUNKLE, L.D. PRECOCIOUS SPORULATION IN CERCOSPORA ZEAE-MAYDIS. PHYTOPATHOLOGY. 2001.

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Conidia of C. zeae-maydis are the primary inoculum causing gray leaf spot of maize. Results of our studies have revealed several factors that influence conidiation. Conidia on the surface of a water droplet, but not those submerged, produced conidiophores and morphologically unaltered secondary conidia within 48 hr. A population of conidia more than doubled its number by 4 days after deposition onto the droplet. This precocious sporulation process is influenced by light, suppressed by reduced nitrogen sources, sensitive to O2 tension, and requires protein synthesis. Conidiophore length varied with the duration of light treatment. After 48 hr of total incubation, conidiophore length increased from 10 micrometers following a 5-min exposure to light to 40 micrometers in response to a 10-hr exposure. Conidia adhering to trichomes on the adaxial surface of a maize leaf germinated and produced new conidia, suggesting that precocious sporulation may have epidemiological consequences.