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ARS Home » Midwest Area » Peoria, Illinois » National Center for Agricultural Utilization Research » Crop Bioprotection Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #405804
Research Project: Discovery and Production of Beneficial Microbes for Control of Agricultural Pests through Integration into Sustainable Agricultural Production Systems

Location: Crop Bioprotection Research

Title: Prospects for biocontrol of tar spot of corn: candidate biocontrol organisms isolated from tar spot stromata

Author
item Ramirez, Jose
item Dowd, Patrick
item Johnson, Eric
item Behle, Robert
item Muturi, Ephantus

Submitted to: Meeting Abstract
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 6/22/2023
Publication Date: 6/22/2023
Citation: Ramirez, J.L., Dowd, P.F., Johnson, E.T., Behle, R.W., Muturi, E.J. 2023. Prospects for biocontrol of tar spot of corn: candidate biocontrol organisms isolated from tar spot stromata. Meeting Abstract. [abstract].

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Tar spot is a major foliar disease of corn, and currently regarded as a serious threat to corn production in the USA. Since its first identification in Illinois and Indiana in 2015, it has quickly spread to other major corn producing States. Recent outbreaks are estimated to have resulted in corn yield losses of up to 30%. This presentation will discuss microbial organisms (beneficial fungi and bacteria) that were isolated from the surface of tar spot of corn lesions. Further experiments showed that tar spot of corn fungal lesions treated with a suspension of the isolated microbes failed to germinate in the lab environment. Our study indicates that fungi and bacteria collected from overwintering corn material can serve as biological control organisms against tar spot of corn disease.