Abstract
A fungus was isolated from diseased roots of Cucumis sativus grown in greenhouses. The morphological and cultural characteristics of the isolate allowed it to be classified as Plectosphaerella melonis. BLASTn analysis revealed 99% homology of the ITS sequence from the isolate with 14 Acremonium cucurbitacearum and P. melonis isolates, allowing attribution of the isolate to P. melonis (syn. A. cucurbitacearum). Koch’s hypothesis requirements were fulfilled for the isolate. Symptoms on host roots developed after 14 d of growing cucumber plants on infested soil. Plants of the cucumber variety Nizhynskyi 12 were very susceptible at the two leaf growth stage (2 weeks after sowing). Above-ground disease symptoms were absent after 14 d, even with severely diseased roots. This is the first report of P. melonis on C. sativus in Ukraine.
Highlights
Carlucci et al (2012) determined that A. cucurbitacearum was synonymous to Nodulisporium melonis and transferred the pathogen to Plectosphaerella as P. melonis comb. nov
Affected host root segments (3–5 mm) were thoroughly washed for 15 min under running water, surface sterilized with 96% ethyl alcohol for 1 min washed twice with sterile water, and were plated into Petri dishes containing 4% barley meal agar (BMA) amended with 250 ppm streptomycin
Isolate 502 was obtained from affected cucumber plants grown in greenhouses (Figure 1a)
Summary
Plectosphaerella spp. are known pathogens for a wide range of agricultural crops, including Cucurbitaceae (Carlucci et al, 2012; Raimondo and Carlucci, 2018a; 2018b).In Spain, Alfaro-García et al (1996) reported that the causal agent of this disease, after the mass death of melons at the beginning of fruit ripening, was the fungus Acremonium cucurbitacearum. Bruton et al (1996) described the same disease on melon plants in Texas (United States of America). Carlucci et al (2012) determined that A. cucurbitacearum was synonymous to Nodulisporium melonis and transferred the pathogen to Plectosphaerella as P. melonis comb. nov.A Plectosphaerella species was consistently isolated from diseased cucumber plants grown in a greenhouse in Ukraine. Plectosphaerella spp. are known pathogens for a wide range of agricultural crops, including Cucurbitaceae (Carlucci et al, 2012; Raimondo and Carlucci, 2018a; 2018b). In Spain, Alfaro-García et al (1996) reported that the causal agent of this disease, after the mass death of melons at the beginning of fruit ripening, was the fungus Acremonium cucurbitacearum. Bruton et al (1996) described the same disease on melon plants in Texas (United States of America). Carlucci et al (2012) determined that A. cucurbitacearum was synonymous to Nodulisporium melonis and transferred the pathogen to Plectosphaerella as P. melonis comb. A Plectosphaerella species was consistently isolated from diseased cucumber plants grown in a greenhouse in Ukraine. The aim of the present study was to identify the isolate fungus using morphological cultural and molecular genetic characteristics, and to confirm its pathogenicity to Cucumis sativus
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