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ARS Home » Plains Area » College Station, Texas » Southern Plains Agricultural Research Center » Crop Germplasm Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #370076
Research Project: Identification of Resistance in Sorghum to Fungal Pathogens and Characterization of Pathogen Population Structure

Location: Crop Germplasm Research

Title: Response to anthracnose and germination rate of Colletotrichum sublineola acervuli of greenhouse-grown sorghum

Author
item Prom, Louis
item ISAKEIT, THOMAS - Texas A&M University
item RADWAN, GHADA - Mount Saint Vincent University, Nova Scotia

Submitted to: Journal of Agriculture and Crops
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 12/13/2019
Publication Date: 12/31/2019
Citation: Prom, L.K., Isakeit, T., Radwan, G. 2019. Response to anthracnose and germination rate of Colletotrichum sublineola acervuli of greenhouse-grown sorghum. Journal of Agriculture and Crops. 5(12):266-269. https://doi.org/10.32861/jac.512.266.269.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.32861/jac.512.266.269

Interpretive Summary: Anthracnose is a fungal disease that causes significant yield losses of sorghum, worldwide. Ten sorghum lines were screened in the greenhouse for anthracnose resistance. Except for SC748, all the sorghum lines tested in this study were susceptible to the disease. However, differences in the germination rate of the fungal fruiting bodies which contain the spores that spread the disease were observed. This work is significant because it shows some sorghum lines with lower level of germinating fruiting bodies could potentially be used to reduce the disease within a field.

Technical Abstract: Colletotrichum sublineola, the causal agent of sorghum anthracnose, infects all above ground parts of the crop. The most pronounced phase of the disease is its foliar phase. In this study, 10 sorghum lines with checks were evaluated in the greenhouse for resistance against C. sublineola. Acervuli germination rate within infected leaves was also recorded. All the 10 sorghum lines along with checks BTX623, TAM428, and PI609251 were susceptible and as expected, SC748 was resistant. Variation among the lines for acervuli germination rate was observed; TAM428 and 1110248 recorded the highest percentage (98.3%) while PI609251 exhibited the lowest rate of acervuli germination (33.3%). Conidia produced from germinating acervuli are critical to the distribution and spread of the disease. However, conidia produced within the acervuli do not usually germinate due to the presence of self-inhibitor compounds. Thus, these self-inhibitors that may occur in the acervuli could explain the difference in levels of susceptibility among sorghum germplasm.