Pearl Millet Diseases
Fungal Diseases

Cercospora Leaf Spot

Cercospora penniseti (Chupp)

Symptoms: Foliar lesions are typically oval, 1-8 × 0.8-2.5 mm, with dark brown margins and pale tan to grey or white centers and dotted with rows of black conidiophore tufts. Lesions can form on stems.

Pathogen and disease characteristics: Conidiophores arise in clusters from small, brown, substomatal stromata. The hyaline, multiseptate conidia are almost filiform (approximately 91-136 × 4 µm), widest in the basal cell or in the first 2 to 3 cells.

Host range: Pearl millet.

Geographic distribution: India (Narayanaswami and Veerraju 1970), United States, possibly Malawi (Wiehe 1953), possibly Tanzania (Mbwaga et al. 1993).

Nomenclature discrepancies: Synonyms or similar pathogens:

Cercospora fusimaculans Atk (Wiehe 1953, Alagianagalingam et al. 1971)
Cercospora sorghi Ellis & Everhart (Mbwaga et al. 1993)
Cercospora typhoides (Sharma and Jain 1967)
Phaeoramularia fusimaculans

Seed transmission: Not known to be transmitted by seed.

Primary citations: Luttrell 1954, Rachie and Majmudar 1980.

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United States Department of Agriculture
Agricultural Research Service

The material on this page is in the public domain.

Original posting: June 5, 1999.