Dispersal routes of Cercospora zeina causing maize gray leaf spot in China

Abstract

The gray leaf spot caused by Cercospora zeina has become a serious disease in maize in China. The isolates of C. zeina from Yunnan, Sichuan, Guizhou, Hubei, Chongqing, Gansu, and Shaanxi were collected. From those, 127 samples were used for genetic diversity analysis based on inter-simple sequence repeat (ISSR) and 108 samples were used for multi-gene sequence analysis based on five gene fragments. The results indicated that populations of C. zeina were differentiated with a relatively high genetic level and were classified into two major groups and seven subgroups. The intra-population genetic differentiation of C. zeina is the leading cause of population variation in China, and inter-population genetic similarity is closely related to the colonization time and spread direction. The multi-gene sequence analysis of C. zeina isolates demonstrated that there were nine haplotypes. Genetic diversity and multi-gene sequence revealed that Yunnan population of C. zeina, the earliest colonizing in China, had the highest genetic and haplotype diversity and had experienced an expansion event. With the influence of the southwest monsoon in the Indian Ocean, C. zeina from Yunnan gradually moved to Sichuan, Guizhou, Shaanxi, Gansu, and Chongqing. Meanwhile, C. zeina was transferred directly from the Yunnan into the Hubei Province via seed and then came into Shaanxi, Henan, and Chongqing along with the wind from Hubei.