Quantification of yield losses caused by leaf anthracnose on sorghum in Brazil

Abstract

The leaf anthracnose disease in sorghum, caused by Colletotrichum sublineolum (Henn. ex Sacc. & Trotter), is widely distributed throughout its Brazilian cultivation areas. The disease can cause significant losses in grain yield and quality. This study aimed to quantify the effects of leaf anthracnose on grain yield of different sorghum genotypes. Two elite inbred lines of sorghum, BR009 (susceptible) and BR008 (moderately resistant), and the hybrids, BR304 and MR43 (susceptible), BRS310 and DKB599 (moderately resistant) and BRS308 and AG1060 (resistant), were planted in a complete randomized block design with three replicates. The disease severity (DS) was evaluated weekly, starting from the onset of the first foliar symptoms, and yield losses were estimated using linear regression analysis. Leaf anthracnose significantly reduced sorghum yields in the susceptible genotypes. The highest yield loss of 86% was observed in the inbred line BR009, when the disease severity reached 100%. For the hybrids, the grain yield loss varied from 35% (BRS310) to 72% (BRS308). According to the adjusted model, a grain yield reduction of 23.48 kg/ha for BR304, 14.57 kg/ha for BRS310 and 15.91 kg/ha for DKB599 was observed for every 1% increase in disease severity. We demonstrate for the first time the effect of leaf anthracnose disease on grain sorghum yields under Brazilian conditions. The results from this study provide a starting point for developing new strategies for the integrated disease management of sorghum anthracnose.

Breeding Sorghum for Grain, Forage and Bioenergy in Brazil

“…Exploiting genetic resistance is an economical and efficient strategy to manage pests and diseases. Sorghum anthracnose, caused by Colletotrichum sublineolum, may reduce crop yielding up to 86% (Cota et al, 2017), and due to high pathogen variability, developing genetic resistance is challenging (Xavier et al, 2018). Mehta et al (2005) and Costa et al (2011) identified vertical resistance to specific races of Colletotrichum sublineolum.…”

Evaluation of a Subset of Ethiopia Sorghum Collection Germplasm from the National Genetic Resources Program of the United States Department of Agriculture for Anthracnose Resistance

“…ture food stability, especially in resource-poor drier agro-ecological regions [1] [2] [3]. This versatile drought-tolerant crop will continue to gain in importance for its varied uses as the environment becomes less predictable due to climate change and those looking for healthy diet options [2] [4] [5] [6].…”

“…Acharya et al [10] reported that for every percent increase in sorghum anthracnose severity, 27 to 85 kg/ha losses in grain yield could be expected. In Brazil, 86% yield loss was measured on BR009 when the level of anthracnose severity on the genotype reached 100% [1].…”

“…The most effective and environmentally sound management strategy for sorghum anthracnose is the use of resistant genotypes [2] [11] [12] [13] [14] [15]. Many resistant sources from different sorghum-growing regions have been reported [1] [11] [12] [13] [15] [16] [17] [18] [19]. However, due to the hyper-variable nature of C. sublineola [8] [20] [21] [22], there is a need to continuously identify sources with diverse resistance genes.…”

Global mRNA and microRNA expression dynamics in response to anthracnose infection in sorghum

“…& Trotter) [ 7 ], is one of the most devastating diseases of the crop. Grain yield losses ranging from 36% in susceptible genotypes of sorghum [ 8 ] to as high as 86% in an inbred line under maximum disease severity were reported [ 9 ].…”