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ARS Home » Pacific West Area » Kimberly, Idaho » Northwest Irrigation and Soils Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #339810
Title: A novel penicillium sp. causes rot in stored sugar beet roots in Idaho

Author
item Strausbaugh, Carl
item Dugan, Frank

Submitted to: Plant Disease
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 6/8/2017
Publication Date: 9/14/2017
Publication URL: https://handle.nal.usda.gov/10113/5832840
Citation: Strausbaugh, C.A., Dugan, F.M. 2017. A novel penicillium sp. causes rot in stored sugar beet roots in Idaho. Plant Disease. 101:1781-1787.

Interpretive Summary: Fungal root rots can lead to millions of dollars in lost revenue when sugar beet roots are stored for long periods of time. In Idaho, approximately two-thirds of the sugar beet crop is stored prior to processing. Penicillium is one of the three primary fungi which lead to losses in Idaho storages. In recent research to establish fungicides for control of these fungal rots, a novel Penicillium species was discovered. Phylogenies based on the sequencing of several DNA regions suggest that this fungus represents a new species of Penicillium, for which we have proposed the name, Penicillium cellarum. Morphological data also supports that this fungus is a previously unrecognized species. Inoculation studies with this fungus indicate that it is capable of causing rot in stored sugar beet roots similar to that found in roots in commercial storage piles. Thus this fungus is not only a new Penicillium species, but a pathogen as well.

Technical Abstract: Penicillium vulpinum along with a number of other fungi can lead to the rot of stored sugar beet roots. However, Penicillium isolates associated with necrotic lesions on roots from a recent sugar beet storage study were determined to be different from P. vulpinum and other recognized Penicillium species. Phylogenies based on sequencing of the internal transcribed spacer (ITS)-5.8S, beta-tubulin (BenA), and RNA polymerase II second largest subunit (RPB2) DNA regions indicate that these isolates are novel, but most closely related to the following Penicillium spp. in the section Fasiculata: P. aurantiogriseum, P. camemberti, and P. freii. Macro- and micromorphological data also support designating these isolates as a new species for which we propose the name, Penicillium cellarum sp. nov. Inoculation studies with the P. cellarum isolates on roots of the commercial sugar beet cultivar B-7, led to the formation of necrotic lesions 23 to 25 mm in diameter after 86 days in storage. These lesions were similar to those observed on sugar beet roots in commercial storage piles. These data indicate that P. cellarum is a pathogen which can lead to root rot in stored sugar beet roots.