Research Articles

Cross-infection Potential of Colletotrichum gloeosporioides Penz. Isolates Causing Anthracnose in Subtropical Fruit Crops

Authors:

Abstract

Anthracnose, caused by Colletotrichum gloeosporioides Penz. is considered the most important disease in fruit crops in the humid tropics that contributes significantly to preharvest and postharvest losses in mango, papaya, guava, custard apple, pomegranate and other subtropical fruit crops. The objective of this study was to test the ability of the pathogen C. gloeosporioides isolates from seven alternate fruit crops viz., mango, acid lime, custard apple, pomegranate, papaya, cashew and guava to cause disease by cross infection between fruit crops. Information on less infection would facilitate the design of an integrated approach for controlling the preharvest and postharvest losses due to anthracnose under mixed cropping systems especially in mango. Cross inoculation experiments demonstrated variation in the level of host preference and Percent Disease Index (PDI) among C. gloeosporioides isolates .The results revealed that among different fruit crops mango, cashew, pomegranate and custard apple were highly susceptible to the anthracnose disease. Isolate of C. gloeosporioides obtained from mango developed anthracnose symptoms on seedlings on all alternative fruit crops tested except on papaya, but it developed the symptoms on fruits of papaya. Mango isolate recorded maximum PDI of 86.7 on fruits of custard apple and minimum on acidlime fruits (12.8 PDI). The C. gloeosporioides isolates obtained from acid lime, custard apple, pomegranate, cashew and guava could infect the mango leaves and fruits except the papaya isolate which failed to infect the leaves, but produced infection on fruits of mango. Maximum PDI of 19.8 was recorded on mango leaves when inoculated with isolate from cashew, and a minimum PDI of zero and 3.4 was recorded when the leaves were inoculated with papaya and acid lime isolates respectively. Among different isolates of C. gloeosporioides, the cashew isolate was more virulent on mango leaves and fruits, followed by the custard apple and guava isolates.

Key words: Colletotrichum gloeosporioides; Cross inoculation; Fruit crops.

DOI: 10.4038/tar.v22i2.2827

Tropical Agricultural Research Vol. 22 (2): 183-193 (2011)

Keywords:

Colletotrichum gloeosporioidesCross inoculationFruit crops.
  • Year: 2011
  • Volume: 22 Issue: 2
  • Page/Article: 183-193
  • DOI: 10.4038/tar.v22i2.2827
  • Published on 21 Feb 2011
  • Peer Reviewed