Abstract
Black Sigatoka is the main constraint to banana production worldwide, and epidemic outbreaks are continuously causing huge losses. Successful management of diseases requires a profound knowledge of the epidemiological factors that influence disease dynamics. Information regarding alternative hosts of Pseudocercospora fijiensis, the causal agent, is still very scarce. To date, only Heliconia psittacorum has been reported as an alternative plant host, and we hypothesized that other plants can house P. fijiensis. In the present report, ten plant species with suspicious leaf spots were collected inside and around commercial banana crops in Mexico. Diagnostic PCR gave positive amplification for six of these plant species, and DNA sequencing confirmed the presence of the pathogen in four. This is the first report of the presence of P. fijiensis in unrelated plants and it represents a breakthrough in the current knowledge of black Sigatoka. This finding is very important given the polycyclic nature of this disease whose successful management requires the control of initial inoculum to minimize epidemic outbreaks. The results presented herein can be used to introduce innovations in integrated black Sigatoka management programs to reduce initial inoculum, and help the international initiative to reduce the use of fungicides in banana production.
Highlights
IntroductionThe Sigatoka disease complex of banana involves three related ascomycetous fungi, Pseudocercospora fijiensis (causal agent of black leaf streak disease), Pseudocercospora musicola
The Sigatoka disease complex of banana involves three related ascomycetous fungi, Pseudocercospora fijiensis, Pseudocercospora musicola, and Pseudocercospora eumusae
The analysis revealed four different plant species were positive for P. fijiensis and, they can be considered alternative hosts
Summary
The Sigatoka disease complex of banana involves three related ascomycetous fungi, Pseudocercospora fijiensis (causal agent of black leaf streak disease), Pseudocercospora musicola Agronomy 2019, 9, 666 agent of yellow Sigatoka disease), and Pseudocercospora eumusae (causal agent of eumusae leaf spot disease). The three pathogens were previously called Mycosphaerella [1]. The pathogen is present in almost all banana producing regions worldwide [3,4]. In Mexico, the first report was published in 1980, and 13 years later, it had become endemic in the Mexican banana-producing regions [5]. The first symptoms appear as small specks, which grow progressively until they become black lesions with yellow halos, eventually resulting in extensive leaf necrosis.
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