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ShareAug. 27, 2008 — The fungus Sclerotinia trifoliorum plagues legume crops worldwide. But chickpeas seem to have escaped its wrath, with the exception of Australia's crop. Now, that's no longer the case, report Agricultural Research Service (ARS) and collaborative university scientists.
During the 2005-06 chickpea growing season in central California, the team observed stem and crown rots reminiscent of Sclerotinia infection. But subtle irregularities in the symptoms led the researchers to believe their prime suspect—S. sclerotiorum, which infects more 400 plant species—had an accomplice, namely S. trifoliorum.
ARS research plant pathologist Weidong Chen led the team, which included Fred Muehlbauer (now retired) with the ARS Grain Legume Genetics Physiology Research Unit in Pullman, Wash., and University of California-Davis and Washington State University researchers.
They examined 10 Sclerotinia isolates from their collection from chickpea stems and subjected each to three identification criteria: growth rate, ascospore morphology and DNA markers indicative of S. trifoliorum. The team's analysis showed that S. trifoliorum isolates were slower-growing, displayed "ascospore dimorphism," which is the formation of two versions of the same spore type, and harbored a set of group I intron markers while S. sclerotiorum did not.
Chen suspects S. trifoliorum's occurrence on central California chickpeas stems from prior plantings of alfalfa—another legume host—and not an accidental introduction from Australia, the only continent where the fungus has previously been reported on chickpea. Identification of this new chickpea pathogen should aid in improving disease-management practices and developing resistant chickpea cultivars for farmers.
The research is part of the ARS National Sclerotinia Initiative. More information on this initiative is available at: http://www.whitemoldresearch.com
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Story Source:
The above story is reprinted from materials provided by USDA/Agricultural Research Service. The original article was written by Jan Suszkiw.
Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.
Journal Reference:
- Evans N. Njambere, Weidong Chen, Carol Frate, Bo-Ming Wu, Steve R. Temple, Fred J. Muehlbauer. Stem and Crown Rot of Chickpea in California Caused by Sclerotinia trifoliorum. Plant Disease, 2008; 92 (6): 917 DOI: 10.1094/PDIS-92-6-0917
Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.
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