No abstract

Seventy-two monoconidial isolates of Magnaporthe grisea were obtained from the States of Mato Grosso do Sul and Paraná. The isolates were inoculated on seedlings of 20 wheat (Triticum aestivum) cultivars under greenhouse conditions. The virulence diversity of M. grisea was assessed based on compatible and incompatible reactions of leaf blast on wheat cultivars. Fifty-four distinct virulence patterns were identified on test cultivars among the isolates collected from the two wheat growing States. Sixteen of these isolates corresponding to 22.2% showed similar virulence pattern. None of the wheat cultivars was resistant to all isolates of M. grisea, but the cultivars differed in degree of resistance as measured by the relative spectrum of resistance (RSR) and disease index (DI). Among the cultivars the RSR ranged from 0 to 53.3% and DI from 0.4662 to 0.9662 (0 to 1 scale). The wheat cultivar BR18 exhibited a broad resistance spectrum in relation to the rest of the tested cultivars to the isolates of M. grisea, and can be used in wheat resistance breeding.

No abstract

Fungal isolates from gray leaf spot on perennial ryegrass (prg isolates) were characterized by DNA analyses, mating tests, and pathogenicity assays. All of the prg isolates were interfertile with Triticum isolates and clustered into the crop isolate group (CC group) on a dendrogram constructed from rDNA-internal transcribed spacer 2 sequences. Since the CC group corresponded to a newly proposed species, Magnaporthe oryzae, all of the prg isolates were designated M. oryzae. However, DNA fingerprinting with MGR586, MGR583, and Pot2 showed that the prg isolates are divided into two distinct populations, i.e., TALF isolates and WK isolates. The TALF isolates were virulent only on Lolium species, whereas the WK isolates were less specific, suggesting that gray leaf spot can be caused not only by Lolium-specific isolates but also by less specific isolates. We designated the TALF isolates as Lolium pathotype. The TALF isolates showed diverse karyotypes in spite of being uniform in DNA fingerprints, suggesting that theyare unstable in genome organization.

This work was carried out in order to quantify the damages in wheat yield due to natural infection by Pyricularia grisea, (causal agent of wheat blast), in different wheat cultivars and breeding lines, during 2004 crop season, at Dourados county, Mato Grosso do Sul State in the absence of other diseases. The experiments were developed under natural conditions and without fungicide spraying, in experimental plots located at Embrapa Agropecuária Oeste and Indápolis. After heading stage, all spikes that showed the characteristic blast symptoms (black point infection in the rachis), had been identified and marked in an area of the 1m 2 . The blast and healthy spikes were harvested, counted and threshed separately. The damages were calculated based on the difference between the actual yield and the estimated yield potential. The results showed that the damages and Goulart, A.C.P.; Sousa, P.G.; Urashima, A.S. Damages in wheat caused by infection of Pyricularia grisea. Summa Phytopathologica, v.33, n.4, p.358-363, 2007. Palavras-chave adicionais: brusone, perdas, Triticum aestivum, rendimento de grãos avaliada. As menores incidências da brusone foram observadas na cv. BR 18-Terena, com 27% e 42% de espigas infectadas, nos ensaios instalados na Embrapa Agropecuária Oeste e em Indápolis, respectivamente. O dano médio devido à brusone, registrado nos 20 materiais testados, foi de 387kg/ha, o que representou 10,5% do rendimento de grãos, no ensaio instalado na Embrapa Agropecuária Oeste. Em Indápolis, os danos foram maiores, atingindo, em média, 609kg/ha (13,0% do rendimento de grãos). As perdas em peso por espiga foram maiores (63,4%) quando a infecção foi precoce em comparação à infecção tardia (46,0%). Verificou-se que houve uma compensação das perdas causadas pela doença, através do melhor desenvolvimento de grãos produzidos abaixo do ponto de estrangulamento da ráquis. Observou-se, também, que em função das espigas brancas sobressaírem-se das demais, pode-se superestimar as perdas. the blast incidence had been varied according to cultivars/breeding lines and region. The least incidence of blast were observed on cv. BR 18-Terena, with 27% and 42% of infected spikes, from the Embrapa Agropecuária Oeste and Indápolis experiments, respectively. The average damage due to blast, in 20 tested materials, was 387kg/ha or 10.5% of the yield, in the Embrapa Agropecuária Oeste experiment. In Indápolis, the damages were greater, reaching, in average 609kg/ ha or 13% of yield. The head weight loss was greater (63.4%) with early infection than with late infection (46.0%). It was observed that grains below the infection point in the rachis were larger than the normal ones, thus compensating to some extent the presence of the empty spikelets. Because the white heads were more visible, the yield losses can be overestimated. RESUMOAdditional Keywords: blast, losses, Triticum aestivum, yield As doenças estão entre os fatores que mais têm contribuído para a limitação de produtividade da triticultura brasileira, sendo favorecidas ...

We have identified a family of dispersed repetitive DNA sequences in the genome of a Magnaporthe grisea isolate from finger millet (Eleusine coracana). Southern blot analyses showed that this element is present in a moderate copy number (30-40 copies) in the genome of blast isolates from wheat (Triticum aestivum). DNA sequence data suggested that this element contains a region highly homologous to the reverse transcriptase domain of MGR583, a poly A-type retrotransposon. Using the reverse transcriptase domain of this element as a molecular probe, the genetic structure of the wheat blast population was examined. DNA fingerprinting analyses revealed that the wheat-infecting isolates constitute a separate, single lineage of their own, suggesting that they are derived from a single origin.

Brazil is blast disease hot spot because severe epidemics have occurred among wheat, triticale, rye, barley and oat crops. Although the first outbreak of barley blast appeared in 1998, little information is available. Therefore, this study aimed to examine host range, mating type composition and population structure of Magnaporthe sp. from a single barley field in São Paulo, Brazil. To examine pathogenicity, 25 Magnaporthe isolates were inoculated on five, three, two and two cultivars of barley, wheat, oat and rice, respectively, and one cultivar each of rye, corn, sorghum, triticale and certain weeds (Cenchrus echinatus, Setaria geniculata, Brachiaria plantaginea and Eleusine indica). Mating type distribution of 33 isolates was investigated by molecular tools. The genotypic divergence of 41 barley and five wheat isolates was investigated by 15 random amplified polymorphic DNA primers and unweighted pair group method with arithmetic mean. The host range of the barley blast pathogen included wheat, oat, rye and triticale but not rice and weeds. Sexual reproduction appeared to not be involved in the high genotypic diversity because only a single isolate, MAT1‐2, was identified. The majority of barley isolates clustered together with wheat blast, except for four, suggesting a different origin.

A brusone em trigo (Triticum aestivum), causada por Magnaporthe grisea, foi relatada pela primeira vez no Paraná em meados da década de 80, estando atualmente disseminada nos principais estados produtores do país. A relação da resistência à brusone nas folhas e espigas de trigo foi estudada utilizando-se 15 variedades de trigo e três diferentes isolados do fungo. Foram empregados cinco variedades e três isolados de M. grisea para estudar a relação entre resistência de espigas e percentagem de infecção das sementes colhidas. Os resultados demonstraram que houve correlação positiva entre suscetibilidade nas folhas no estádio vegetativo e nas espigas. A variedade BH1146 foi a única que apresentou correlação positiva da resistência, pois foi a única a apresentar plântulas resistentes que posteriormente se refletiu numa menor incidência de espigas doentes com menor severidade da doença. Detectou-se correlação altamente significativa entre incidência e severidade da doença nas espigas. As percentagens de sementes infetadas foram menores nas variedades que apresentaram reação resistente nas espigas do que nas variedades suscetíveis.