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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 #389215
Research Project: Identification of Resistance in Sorghum to Fungal Pathogens and Characterization of Pathogen Population Structure

Location: Crop Germplasm Research

Title: Diversity and frequency of fungal genera from sorghum lines inoculated with Alternaria alternata alone and in combination with Curvularia lunata and Fusarium thapsinum in a field infected with anthracnose

Author
item Prom, Louis
item ISAKEIT, THOMAS - Texas A&M University

Submitted to: Journal of Agricultural and Crop Research
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 10/29/2021
Publication Date: 11/1/2021
Citation: Prom, L.K., Isakeit, T. 2021. Diversity and frequency of fungal genera from sorghum lines inoculated with Alternaria alternata alone and in combination with Curvularia lunata and Fusarium thapsinum in a field infected with anthracnose. Journal of Agricultural and Crop Research. 9(11):264-267. https://doi.org/10.33495/jacr_v9i11.21.166.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.33495/jacr_v9i11.21.166

Interpretive Summary: Globally, grain mold is the most important disease of sorghum and, due to the many fungi associated with it, controlling the disease can be difficult. Losses in grain yield on highly susceptible sorghum lines can reach 100% under favorable conditions. Accessions inoculated with grain mold fungi either individually or in mixture and water-sprayed control revealed the re-isolation of the same fungi in higher percentages than the other grain mold fungi such as Fusarium proliferatum, Aspergillus flavus, A. niger, F. chlamydposporum, F. verticillioides, Rhizopus spp., and Penicillium spp. This work is significant because it showed that sorghum lines could be evaluated for their response to common grain mold fungi in a region either individually or in mixture to identify resistant sources which in turn can be used by breeders to develop new grain mold resistant sorghum lines and hybrids.

Technical Abstract: Sorghum grain mold is a disease associated with a number of fungal genera. In this study, mycoflora analysis of seeds obtained from 91 accessions, including those from the sorghum association panel was conducted. Accesions were inoculated with A. alternata alone, mixture of A. alternata, F. thapsinum, and C. lunata, and water-sprayed control during two growing seasons. Alternaria alternata alone treatment showed Colletotrichum sublineola was the most recovered fungal species followed by A. alternata, and Fusarium spp. Seeds from panicles inoculated with a mixture of A. alternata, F. thapsinum, and C. lunata revealed F. thapsinum, followed by C. lunata, C. sublineola and A. alternata as the most frequently isolated species. In the control treatment, A. alternata and C. sublineola were the most frequently recovered fungal species. Fusarium proliferatum, Aspergillus flavus, A. niger, F. chlamydposporum, F. verticillioides, Rhizopus spp., and Penicillium spp. were also recovered but in low percentages. Due to the large number of fungi associated with the disease, management can be challenging. Studies like this one allow for the identification of other grain mold fungi infecting or contaminating sorghum grain in a field. Thus, using those fungi species in a particular region, either individually or in combination, to screen germplasm for resistance or tolerance to this disease complex is recommended.