Abstract
Carnation (Dianthus caryophyllus L.) is a cut flower with greater stipulation in the world cut flower market. In India, carnations are cultivated under polyhouses in Nilgiris and Kodaikanal districts in the state of Tamil Nadu. Carnations cultivation is impeded by various diseases, among them stem rot caused by Sclerotinia sclerotiorum (Lib.) de Bary was found to be predominant in all varieties. Survey among commercially cultivated varieties of carnation during 2013, revealed the occurrence of stem rot incited by Sclerotinia sclerotiorum, for the first time in India. The pathogen was identified as Sclerotinia sclerotiorum on the basis of phenotypic and genotypic characteristics. Carpogenic germination was induced artificially, and life cycle of the fungi was studied. Microscopic studies of the apothecium revealed the presence of spermatia, croziers, paraphyses as well as monomorphic ascospores specific to S. sclerotiorum. Key words: Apothecium, carnation, croziers, India, Sclerotinia, spermatia.
Highlights
Floriculture is a persuasive field in trade with high potential returns per unit area
Carnations cultivation is impeded by various diseases, among them stem rot caused by Sclerotinia sclerotiorum (Lib.) de Bary was found to be predominant in all varieties
This is the first record of sclerotinia rot of carnations in India
Summary
Floriculture is a persuasive field in trade with high potential returns per unit area Because of this large number of farmers are attracted towards cut flower cultivation. Area under cut flower production is increasing constantly (Indian Horticulture Database, 2015). Sclerotinia is a facultative parasitic fungus belonging to Ascomycota (Kirk et al, 2008) It is a robust pathogen having greater rate of survival even under adverse environmental conditions and survives up to eight years in soil as sclerotial bodies (Adams and Ayers, 1979). Three well documented species of Sclerotinia (S. sclerotiorum, S. minor and S. trifoliorum) are considered to be much important and likely to have wide host range and reported with huge economic loss (Saharan and Mehta, 2008). The results of our study on survey, morphological, molecular characterization and apothecium induction in S. sclerotiorum are presented in this communication
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