Pythium soft rot of ginger: Detection and identification of the causal pathogens,and their control

Ginger is considered by many people to be the outstanding member among 1400 other species in the family Zingiberaceae. Not only it is a valuable spice used by cooks throughout the world to impart unique flavour to their dishes but it also has a long track record in some Chinese and Indian cultures for treating common human ailments such as colds and headaches. Ginger has recently attracted considerable attention for its anti-inflammatory, antibacterial and antifungal properties. However, ginger as a crop is also susceptible to at least 24 different plant pathogens, including viruses, bacteria, fungi and nematodes. Of these, Pythium spp. (within the kingdom Stramenopila, phyllum Oomycota) are of most concern because various species can cause rotting and yield loss on ginger at any of the growth stages including during postharvest storage. Pythium gracile was the first species in the genus to be reported as a ginger pathogen, causing Pythium soft rot disease in India in 1907. Thereafter, numerous other Pythium spp. have been recorded from ginger growing regions throughout the world. Today, 15 Pythium species have been implicated as pathogens of the soft rot disease. Because accurate identification of a pathogen is the cornerstone of effective disease management programs, this review will focus on how to detect, identify and control Pythium spp. in general, with special emphasis on Pythium spp. associated with soft rot on ginger.     

Resistance to Rhizoctonia solani AG‐2‐2 (IIIB) in creeping bentgrass plants transformed with pepper esterase gene PepEST

A pepper esterase (PepEST) gene was introduced into creeping bentgrass (Agrostis stolonifera) by Agrobacterium‐mediated transformation. Purified recombinant PepEST proteins were sufficient to inhibit the growth of the fungal pathogens Rhizoctonia solani AG2‐2 (IIIB) (causing brown patch) and Sclerotinia homoeocarpa (dollar spot), but not the oomycete responsible for pythium blight, Pythium aphanidermatum. PepEST proteins were most effective against R. solani. After genetic transformation of creeping bentgrass with PepEST, the genomic integration of transgenes bar and PepEST was confirmed by Southern blot analysis, and their expression was also validated by northern blot and western blot analyses. Disease severity on R. solani‐inoculated leaves of transgenic plants was <10% compared to ca. 50% in non‐transgenic plants. Microscopic observation of infected leaves indicated that PepEST inhibited the growth of hyphae upon fungal infection.     

Improving quality of composted biowaste to enhance disease suppressiveness of compost-amended, peat-based potting mixes

Biowaste can be converted into compost by composting or by a combination of anaerobic digestion and composting. Currently, waste management systems are primarily focused on the increase of the turnover rate of waste streams whereas optimisation of product quality receives less attention. This results in low quality composts that can only be sold on bulk markets at low prices. A new market for quality compost could be potting mixes for horticultural container-grown crops to partially replace non-renewable peat and increase the disease suppressiveness of potting mixes. We report here on the effect of wetsieving biowaste prior to composting on compost quality and on disease suppressiveness against the plant pathogen Pythium ultimum of peat mixes amended with this compost. The increased organic matter and decreased salt content of the compost allow for significantly higher substitution rates of peat by compost. In this study up to 60% v/v compost peat replacement did not affect cucumber growth. However, disease suppressiveness of the potting mixes strongly increased from 31 to 94% when the compost amendment rate was increased from 20 to 60%. It was shown that general disease suppression for P. ultimum can only be effective when the basal respiration rate is sufficiently high to support microbial activity. In addition, organic matter of the compost should reach a sufficient stability level to turn from disease conducive to disease suppressive. Increasing the compost addition from 20 to 60% did not significantly affect plant yield, yield variation were due to differences in nutrient levels. It can be concluded that compost from wetsieved biowaste has high potential to replace peat in growing media for the professional market.     

Mosquito-killing water molds isolated from soil samples collected in Taiwan

Mosquito-killing water molds were isolated from soils collected from various parts in Taiwan. The first-instar larvae of Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus were used as baits. A total of 453 soil samples were collected from Taipei, Ilan, Hualien, Taoyuan, Hsinchu, Miaoli, Taichung, Tainan, Nantou, Chiayi, Yunlin and Pintung. Four mosquito-killing Pythium spp. and one Saprolegnia sp. were isolated from the soil samples. Using zoospores of the Pythium spp. as inoculum to infect the first-instar larvae, scanning electron micrographs showed that most zoospores attached in the anal gill and a few attached between head and thorax. Thus, Pythium spp. is a potential biocontrol agent against first-instar larvae of A. aegypti and A. albopictus.     

Variation of Pythium-induced cocoyam root rot severity in response to soil type

In Cameroon, andosols are suspected to be suppressive to cocoyam (Xanthosoma sagittifolium) root rot disease (CRRD) caused by the Oomycete pathogen Pythium myriotylum. To determine factors involved in disease suppressiveness, andosols were studied in comparison to ferralsols known to be disease-conducive. Soil samples were collected from six sites of which three were in andosols around Mount Cameroon (Boteva, Njonji, and Ekona) and the three others in ferralsols (Bakoa, Lapkwang, and Nko’o canane). Greenhouse plant experiments were used to assess soil suppressiveness. Soils were artificially infested with two levels of P. myriotylum inoculum (100 and 300 mycelia strands g⁻¹ soil) prior to planting cocoyam. Disease severity was significantly higher in ferralsols than in andosols. Andosols partly lost their suppressiveness as a result of autoclaving and could recover suppressiveness following recolonisation by their original microflora. Soil microbial groups implicated in the disease suppression were investigated by assessing the effect of fungicide, bactericide, and pasteurisation on andosol suppressiveness. Andosols suppressiveness was significantly reduced following pasteurisation and treatment with fungicide and bactericide. The possible influence of microbial biomass on andosol suppressiveness was investigated by comparing microbial populations of suppressive andosols to those in andosols that had lost suppressiveness. A comparative analysis of suppressive and conducive soil properties was performed to identify soil variables, which may contribute to soil suppressiveness. Soil chemical analysis results showed that organic matter content was higher in andosols than in ferralsols. In addition, the content of mineral nutrients such as Ca, K, Mg and N, was higher in andosols than in ferralsols. These soil variables negatively correlated with disease severity. By contrast, sand and clay, which were higher in ferralsols than in andosols, were positively related to disease severity. This study has confirmed the suppressive nature of andosols from Mount Cameroon to CRRD. The results suggest that high organic matter content is likely mediating P. myriotylum suppression in andosols by improving soil structure, increasing soil nutrient content and microbial biomass, and sustaining microbial activity.     

黄瓜绵腐病病原菌鉴定及防治药剂的筛选

为有效防控黄瓜绵腐病，本研究对自江西省南昌市南昌县武阳镇和八一乡采集的黄瓜绵腐病病样进行分离，基于致病性测定、形态学特征和分子生物学方法对其进行鉴定，并采用菌丝生长速率法测定甲霜灵、霜霉威、霜脲氰、烯酰吗啉4种常用杀菌剂对该病原菌和辣椒疫霉Phytophthora capsici的抑制效果。结果表明，自武阳镇和八一乡采集的病样经分离、纯化培养后分别获得12株和10株菌株；自武阳镇分离的病原菌的藏卵器柄较直，藏卵器大小为18.1~32.9 μm；自八一乡分离的病原菌的藏卵器柄较弯曲，藏卵器大小为15.1~25.3 μm；结合致病性测定及rDNA-ITS测序结果，将自武阳镇分离的病原菌鉴定为瓜果腐霉Pythium aphanidermatum，将自八一乡分离的病原菌鉴定为德里腐霉Py.deliense。室内毒力测定结果表明，甲霜灵对瓜果腐霉和德里腐霉抑制效果最好，EC₅₀分别为0.71 μg/mL和0.25 μg/mL；霜脲氰次之，EC₅₀分别为3.68 μg/mL和3.36 μg/mL，甲霜灵、霜霉威、霜脲氰3种杀菌剂对瓜果腐霉、德里腐霉和辣椒疫霉的抑制效果差别不大，但烯酰吗啉对瓜果腐霉、德里腐霉和辣椒疫霉抑制效果差异明显，EC₅₀分别为18.06、33.58和0.18 μg/mL，表明防治黄瓜绵腐病优先选择甲霜灵。     

木霉（TR－5）对病原真菌的拮抗机制和防病效果研究

从土壤中分离获得一株木霉（Ｔｒｉｃｈｏｄｅｒｍａｓｐ．）菌株（ＴＲ－５），用对峙法和系列稀释法测定其对立枯丝核菌（Ｒｈｉｚｏｃｔｏｎｉａｓｏｌａｎｉ），禾谷丝核菌（Ｒｈｉｚｏｃｔｏｎｉａｃｅｒｅａｌｉｓ），西瓜枯萎病菌（Ｆｕｓａｒｉｕｍｏｘｙｓｐｏｒｕｍ∫ｎｉｖｅｕｍ），油菜菌核病菌（Ｓｃｌｅｒｏｔｉｎｉａｓｃｌｅｒｏｔｉｏｒｕｍ），昆明腐霉（Ｐｙｈｔｉｕｍｋｕｎｍｉｎｇｅｎｓ）和寄生疫霉（ＰｈｙｔｏｐｈｔｈｏｒａＰａｒａｓｉｔｉｃａ）的拮抗作问。结果表明，ＴＲ－５菌株对６种病原真菌都具有极强的拮抗作用，主要表现为缠绕、附着在病原真菌菌丝上，同时产生吸器侵入病原真菌的菌丝，使菌丝断裂。还能分泌有毒或抗生物质抑制其生长，并具有很强的生长竞争能力。ＴＲ－５菌株对立枯丝核菌，禾谷丝核菌和西瓜枯萎病菌的有效抑制浓度为１０６～１０７个孢子／ｍｌ；对油菜菌核病菌和昆明腐霉菌为１０４～１０５个孢子／ｍｌ；而对寄生疫霉为１０５～１０６个孢子／ｍｌ。用ＴＲ－５木霉的分生孢子制剂在温室条件下对黄瓜猝倒病（Ｐｙｔｈｉｕｍａｐｈａｎｉｄｅｒｍａｔｕｍ）和黄瓜疫病（Ｐｈｙｔｏｐｈｔｈｏｒａｄｒｅｃｈｓｌｅｒｉ）进行防治试验，效果分别     

腐霉对姜根茎腐烂的作用

本文描述了姜根茎腐烂的三种症状类型:青枯型、黄腐型及黄枯型;分别由青枯细菌、腐霉菌及青桔细菌和腐霉苗引起,鉴定出4种致病腐霉:P(?)(?)P.(?)P.(?)和P.(?).通过接种试验,证明腐霉对姜有较强的致病力;与青枯细菌共同为害,病将更严重,故姜的根茎腐烂不完全是细菌青枯病。     

玉米对茎腐病的抗性遗传研究

通过抗性及感性稳定的１０个自交系完全双列杂交对腐霉菌（ｐｙｔｈｉｕｍｓｐ）引起的茎腐病的抗性遗传进行研究。结果表明；玉米对茎腐病的抗性存在极显著差异，Ｆ１的抗病性与亲本抗病性密切相关，且多偏向于感病亲本。正反交差异不明显，属于核基因控制的遗传性状，为不完全显性。基因加性效应大于显性效应，属于数量性状遗传，抗性遗传力较高。１０个玉米自交系间一般配合力和特殊配合力存在极显著差异。     

北京和浙江地区玉米青枯病病原菌的分离与鉴定

 1982-1986年，对北京、浙江地区的玉米青枯病病原菌进行分离和鉴定。在1985和1986两年分离的200株病株中，腐霉菌（Pythium）占66.5%，镰刀菌（Fusarium）占37%，丝核菌（Rhizoctonia）占10.5%，细菌（Bacteria）占4.5%，蠕孢菌（Helminthosporium）占3%。回接成株期玉米试验表明，肿囊腐霉菌（P.inflatum Malthews）和禾生腐霉菌（P.graminicola Subram）是玉米青枯病的病原菌，而禾谷镰刀菌（F.graminearum Schw.）则不是，至少不是主要病原菌。从玉米上分离出肿囊腐霉菌，过去未见报道。