Mineral nutrient content of infected plants and allied soils provide insight into wheat blast epidemics

Md Saljar Rahman Chowdhury,Md Arifur Rahman,Kamrun Nahar,Khondoker M.G Dastogeer,Islam Hamim,K.M Mohiuddin

doi:10.1016/j.heliyon.2022.e08966

Md Saljar Rahman Chowdhury, Md Arifur Rahman + Show 4 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2022.e08966

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Journal: Heliyon	Publication Date: Feb 1, 2022
Citations: 4	License type: cc-by

Affiliation: Bangladesh Agricultural University, Khulna University

Abstract

Wheat is the second-largest cereal crop in Bangladesh and plays an essential role in ensuring the country's food security. Since 2016, there has been a severe epidemic of wheat blast disease in Bangladesh. This research investigated the nutritional context of wheat blast epidemics by analyzing the infected plants and allied soils. We collected blast-infected wheat plants and allied soil samples from six different severely infected regions of the Meherpur district situated in the western part of Bangladesh. The incidence and severity of wheat blast disease in the sampling fields ranged from 84.78 - 95.11% and 82.06–92.19%, respectively. Among the investigated mineral nutrients in plant samples, the concentrations of sulfur (S), calcium (Ca), magnesium (Mg), iron (Fe) and manganese (Mn) were within the acceptable range of the reference values. In contrast, 50% of the plant samples had insufficient phosphorus (P) concentrations, while others were within the critical range. The potassium (K) and copper (Cu) concentrations in more than 33.5% of plants were within the deficient range. The Si concentrations in half of the tested plant samples were below the acceptable level. However, the boron (B) concentration of around 50% of samples was within the toxic range. The total K, Ca, Zn, Fe, Mn, and Cu concentrations of the soils were lower than the reference values. Based on the interpretation of the available soil test values, the concentrations of S, Fe, Mn, and B in most samples were very low. The concentrations of available P, K, Ca, Mg, Zn and Cu in soil samples were higher than the critical limit. There was a negative relationship between K, S, Ca, Mg, Na and Si concentrations with blast incidence and severity. Therefore, this research suggests that certain plant nutrients such as P, K, Cu, B and Si play a vital role in the wheat blast disease epidemic.

Highlights

Wheat blast, caused by Magnaporthe oryzae Triticum (MoT) fungus, is a very catastrophic disease of wheat
This study revealed that the concentration of P in the infected plant samples ranged from 0.045 to 0.279%, with an average concentration of 0.182% (Figure 7)
In Bangladesh's Meherpur area, wheat production has been destroyed by the catastrophic wheat blast disease, caused by the fungus Magnaporthe oryzae Triticum

Summary

Introduction

Wheat blast, caused by Magnaporthe oryzae Triticum (MoT) fungus, is a very catastrophic disease of wheat This disease has the potential to cause complete crop failure in the severely affected fields (Kohli et al, 2011; Goulart et al, 1990, 1992). Wheat blast infection was only confined within South America, until February 2016, in which the first outbreak of wheat blast disease occurred in Meherpur, Kushtia, Chuadanga, Jessore, Jhenaidah, Bhola, Barisal, Narail, Magura, and Faridpur in Bangladesh. This was the most devastating shock to wheat cultivation (Malaker et al, 2016; Saharan et al, 2016). Yield losses caused by the wheat blast disease can be minimized by growing a few available cultivars with partial resistance combined with fungicide application, integration of nutrient management practices and avoiding the warm and humid environmental conditions favorable to disease development (Rodrigues et al, 2017; Castroagudín et al, 2015)

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