No abstract

Rhodes grass (Chloris gayana Kunth) is widely cultivated in the semi-arid tropics and favoured for salt tolerance; nevertheless, productivity decreases significantly under saline conditions, especially in tetraploid cultivars. The purpose of this work was to explore, in the tetraploid cultivar Boma, the physiological causes for such decrease. Experiments were carried out in vegetative plants in the greenhouse. At high salinity (200 mM NaCl), an early reduction in leaf area expansion was observed, and, later, decreased dry matter accumulation, suggesting that the central effect of salinity was a limitation of leaf growth. This was evaluated in 2 closely related Boma clones, exhibiting different degrees of salt tolerance. Growth, ion accumulation and excretion, sugars, and proline concentrations were measured under a range of salt concentrations (0–200 mM NaCl). Differences between the clones in leaf expansion were expressed only at high salinity, but were not associated with differences in water potential or hydraulic conductance in the expanding region. At all salinity levels, the proportion of dry leaves was higher in the clone which also had lower salt gland density and Na excretion rates. Less efficient Na extrusion, associated with high oxidative stress, may be the main cause for leaf senescence and differences in productivity between these clones.

The endophytic mycobiota of leaves and stems of the mistletoe Phoradendron perrottettii and its host tree Tapirira guianensis, two physiologically connected plant species of the Brazilian savannah in southeastern Brazil, were investigated to evaluate host and organ recurrence among endophytes. Leaves and stems of P. perrottettii and leaves of T. guianensis were sampled in the dry and wet season. Stems of T. guianensis were also sampled in the wet season. Endophytes were isolated by an adapted trituration and particle filtration protocol. A total of 1,615 isolates representing 99 species and 20 sterile morphotypes were recovered; 64 morphospecies occurred as singletons. The number of isolates and species was higher in the wet season. Leaves of P. perrottettii were less densely colonized than other organs studied, but were the most species-rich. Conversely, stems of T. guianensis yielded more isolates but were less species-rich. Both plants were found to harbor similar but distinguishable endophytic assemblages. The Jaccard's index of similarity between the fungal assemblages of both plants was 0.82, higher than found for other plants in similar habitats. The fungal species composition seemed to be influenced by the collection season and organ type, as demonstrated by multivariate correspondence analysis. Paraconiothyrium brasiliense, P. sporulosum and Verticillium leptobactrum were the dominant species in P. perrottettii. In leaves of T. guianensis, Pseudocercospora sp., Phomopsis sp. 1 and Lecanicillium psalliotae were the most frequent, while Stagonospora sp. 1 and Phomopsis sp. 1 were the dominant endophytes in its stems. The results indicated that some of the dominant endophytic taxa isolated in this study colonize different hosts and plant organs while others seem to exhibit a high degree of host or organ recurrence. This study represents the first evaluation of diversity of fungal endophytes in natural vegetation of the Brazilian savannah and contributes information about the distribution and possible specificity of endophytes in tropical dicotyledoneous plants.

, Nelson Venturin 5 RESUMOCom o presente trabalho, objetivou-se avaliar a incidência da ferrugem e da cercosporiose do cafeeiro em diferentes sistemas de cultivo, agroflorestais e a pleno sol, através da curva de progresso dessas doenças. Utilizou-se o delineamento inteiramente casualizado, com três tratamentos e sete repetições. Os tratamentos foram compostos por cafeeiros consorciados com ingazeiro, cafeeiros consorciados com grevílea e cafeeiros cultivados convencionalmente a pleno sol. As avaliações foram realizadas mensalmente no período de abril de 2001 a março de 2003. Realizou-se o cálculo da área abaixo da curva de progresso da doença (AACPD), a qual foi submetida à análise de variância. Para a incidência da ferrugem do cafeeiro o consórcio cafeeiro x ingazeiro mostrou-se com maiores índices da doença, sendo que os tratamentos consórcio cafeeiro x grevílea e cafeeiro a pleno sol não diferiram entre si e apresentaram menores incidências da doença. Diminuição na luz solar direta e maior umidade podem ter favorecido a ferrugem no sistema cafeeiro x ingazeiro. Para a incidência de cercosporiose, os cafeeiros a pleno sol obtiveram maiores valores de incidência da doença, seguidos por cafeeiros x grevílea, e menores taxas da doença foram observadas no consórcio cafeeiros x ingazeiro. A incidência de radiação solar direta pode ter favorecido a maior incidência de cercosporiose nos cafeeiros a pleno sol.Termos para indexação: Doenças do cafeeiro, sistemas agroflorestais. ABSTRACTThe present work aimed to evaluate the incidence of rust and coffee plant cercosporiose in different systems of agroforest cultivation and in the full sunshine through the progress curve of those diseases. The completely randomized design with three treatments and seven replicates was utilized. The treatments were made up of coffee plants mixed with ingazeiro, coffee plants mixed with grevílea and coffee plants cultivated conventionally in the full sunshine. The evaluations were performed monthly during the period of April 2001 to March 2003. The calculation of the area bellow the disease progress curve (ABDPC), which was submitted to the variance analysis. For the incidence of the coffee plant rust, the coffee plant x ingazeiro mixing presented the highest indices of the disease, the treatments coffee plant x grevílea mixing and coffee plant in the full sunshine did no differ from each other and presented the smallest indices of the disease. Decrease in the direct solar light and higher humidity may have supported rust in the coffee plant x ingazeiro system. For the incidence of cercosporiose, the coffee plants in the full sunshine obtained higher values of incidence of the disease followed by coffee plants x grevílea and lowest rates of the disease were found in the coffee plant x ingazeiro mixings. The incidence of direct solar radiation may have supported the highest incidence of cercosporiose on the coffee plants in the full sunshine. INTRODUÇÃOO estudo epidemiológico das interações patógeno, hospedeiro e ambiente é fundamental pa...

a Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Cient ıficas y T ecnicas (CONICET) CCT-Salta, J.M. Leguizam on 366,White mould, caused by Sclerotinia sclerotiorum, is one of the most threatening fungal diseases occurring across major bean production regions worldwide. In Argentina, under favourable weather conditions, up to 100% seed yield losses occur on susceptible common bean cultivars. The aim of this study was to characterize the diversity of S. sclerotiorum isolates from six dry bean fields in the main production area of Argentina by means of molecular, morphological (mycelium colour, number and pattern of sclerotia distribution) and pathogenic approaches. Among 116 isolates analysed, high genotypic and morphological variability was observed. A total of 52 mycelial compatibility groups (MCGs) and 59 URPs (universal rice primers) molecular haplotypes were found. All the MCGs were location specific, while only 12% of the URP haplotypes were shared among locations. The molecular analysis of variance revealed a significant differentiation among populations, with higher genetic variability within the populations analysed than among them. The aggressiveness of the isolates towards bean seedlings was assessed in the greenhouse. Most of the isolates were highly aggressive, while no variation among locations was observed. The information generated in the present study provides, for the first time, information on the variability of S. sclerotiorum associated with white mould in the main common bean production area in Argentina. In addition, the findings suggest the occurrence of both clonal and sexual reproduction in the populations analysed. This work contributes to the development of sustainable management strategies in bean production aimed to minimize yield losses due to white mould.