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ARS Home » Northeast Area » Frederick, Maryland » Foreign Disease-Weed Science Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #277786
Title: Colletotrichum gloeosporioides, causing anthracnose of mile-a-minute (Persicaria perfoliata) in Turkey, is a potential biological control agent of this weed in the U.S.

Author
item Berner, Dana
item Cavin, Craig
item ERPER, ISMAIL - Ondokuz Mayis University
item TUNALI, BERNA - Ondokuz Mayis University

Submitted to: APS Annual Meeting
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 3/14/2012
Publication Date: 6/1/2012
Citation: Berner, D.K., Cavin, C.A., Erper, I., Tunali, B. 2012. Colletotrichum gloeosporioides, causing anthracnose of mile-a-minute (Persicaria perfoliata) in Turkey, is a potential biological control agent of this weed in the U.S. [abstract]. APS Annual Meeting. 102:S31.

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Mile-a-minute (Persicaria perfoliata (L.) H. Gross; family Polygonaceae) is an exotic annual barbed vine that has invaded the northeastern USA, Mississippi, and Oregon. In July of 2010, in a search for potential biological control pathogens, diseased P. perfoliata plants were found along the Firtina River near Ardesen, Turkey. Symptoms were irregular dark-colored necrotic lesions along leaf margins and smaller irregular reddish-colored lesions on the lamellae of leaves. Symptomatic leaves were sent to the quarantine facility of USDA/ARS/ FDWSRU, in Ft. Detrick, MD, where a fungus that had morphological characters conforming to the description of Colletotrichum gloeosporioides (Penz.) Penz. & Sacc. was consistently isolated from the diseased tissue. Nucleotide sequences for the internal transcribed spacers (ITS 1 and 2) of the fungus were deposited in GenBank (JN887693). A comparison of these sequences with ITS 1 and 2 sequences of the C. gloeosporioides epitype using BLAST found 479 of 482 identities with no gaps. Conidia from 14-day-old pure cultures were spray-inoculated, in an aqueous suspension of 1.0 × 106 conidia ml-1 onto healthy stems and leaves of nine 30-day-old P. perfoliata plants. Plants were placed in a dew chamber at 25 degrees C for 16 h with no lighting and then placed in a 20 - 25 degrees C greenhouse. Each plant was rated weekly for disease severity based on a 0-10 rating scale where “10” = 100 percent symptomatic tissue. The average disease rating of the plants ranged from 4.3 to 4.8. C. gloeosporioides was re-isolated from all inoculated plants. Results of host range tests with this isolate will determine its potential as a biological control agent for P. perfoliata.