First Report of Maize Seedling Blight Caused by Fusarium pseudograminearum in China

HomePlant DiseaseVol. 106, No. 9First Report of Maize Seedling Blight Caused by Fusarium pseudograminearum in China PreviousNext DISEASE NOTE OPENOpen Access licenseFirst Report of Maize Seedling Blight Caused by Fusarium pseudograminearum in ChinaH. Jiang, L. G. Ma, K. Qi, Y. L. Zhang, B. Zhang, G. P. Ma, and J. S. QiH. Jianghttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-8361-8206Shandong Key Laboratory of Plant Virology, Institute of Plant Protection, Shandong Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Jinan 250100, Shandong Province, China, L. G. Mahttps://orcid.org/0000-0003-1770-3442Shandong Key Laboratory of Plant Virology, Institute of Plant Protection, Shandong Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Jinan 250100, Shandong Province, China, K. QiShandong Key Laboratory of Plant Virology, Institute of Plant Protection, Shandong Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Jinan 250100, Shandong Province, China, Y. L. Zhanghttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-6284-700XShandong Key Laboratory of Plant Virology, Institute of Plant Protection, Shandong Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Jinan 250100, Shandong Province, China, B. ZhangShandong Key Laboratory of Plant Virology, Institute of Plant Protection, Shandong Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Jinan 250100, Shandong Province, China, G. P. MaShandong Key Laboratory of Plant Virology, Institute of Plant Protection, Shandong Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Jinan 250100, Shandong Province, China, and J. S. Qi†Corresponding author: J. S. Qi; E-mail Address: [email protected]Shandong Key Laboratory of Plant Virology, Institute of Plant Protection, Shandong Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Jinan 250100, Shandong Province, ChinaAffiliationsAuthors and Affiliations H. Jiang L. G. Ma K. Qi Y. L. Zhang B. Zhang G. P. Ma J. S. Qi † Shandong Key Laboratory of Plant Virology, Institute of Plant Protection, Shandong Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Jinan 250100, Shandong Province, China Published Online:1 Aug 2022https://doi.org/10.1094/PDIS-01-22-0099-PDNAboutSectionsView articlePDFSupplemental ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack Citations ShareShare onFacebookTwitterLinked InRedditEmailWechat View articleMaize (Zea mays L.) is one of the most important food and feed crops in China, with a cultivation area of more than 40 million hectares (https://www.fao.org/faostat/en/). In July 2021, a serious maize seeding blight occurred in Changjia Town, Gaoqing Country, Zibo City, Shandong Province, China, and the disease incidence was up to 50% in some fields. The root system of infected plants displayed poor development. The primary roots were brown and rotted. The leaves at the base of the plants dried up, and then the whole plant withered. To determine the causal agent of the disease, symptomatic roots of diseased seedlings were collected and surface-sterilized (70% ethanol for 30 s and 3% sodium hypochlorite [NaClO] for 90 s), rinsed three times with sterile distilled water, placed on potato dextrose agar (PDA), and incubated at 25°C for 2 days. Two cultures with similar morphological characteristics were purified through single-spore isolation and identified by morphology and molecular methods as Fusarium pseudograminearum O'Donnell & T. Aoki 1999. Plentiful macroconidia formed in 5-day-old carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) cultures; microconidia were absent. Macroconidia were thick-walled and curved, usually three to five septa, and 31.6 ± 0.6 × 4.8 ± 0.1 μm (n = 50). Colony pigmentation on PDA was pink to red, with white to pink aerial mycelia on PDA cultures that were abundant and filled the Petri dishes. For molecular identification, the rDNA internal transcribed spacer (ITS) gene and translation elongation factor 1 alpha (TEF-1α) gene of two isolates (SAIA41B and SAIA41C) were amplified with ITS1/ITS4 (White et al. 1990) and EF-1/EF-2 (O'Donnell et al. 1998), respectively. BLASTn analysis of the ITS sequence (accession numbers OM108101 and OM108102) and TEF-1α sequence (accession numbers OM142205 and OM142206) revealed 100% (481/481 bp for ITS and 637/637 bp for TEF-1α) sequence identity with the sequences of F. pseudograminearum reported in GenBank (MW699613 for ITS and JN862232 for TEF-1α). The molecular identification was further confirmed by the F. pseudograminearum species-specific PCR primers Fp1-1/Fp1-2 (Aoki and O'Donnell 1999). The expected 523-bp fragments were obtained for isolates SAIA41B and SAIA41C. In the pathogenicity test, healthy germinating maize roots (Zhengdan958) were inoculated with PDA culture blocks of isolate SAIA41C. Plants inoculated only with PDA culture blocks served as controls. Maize plants were put in Petri dishes and placed in an incubator with a 12-h photoperiod at 25°C and 100% relative humidity. Seven days later, roots of the plants inoculated with isolate SAIA41C were poorly developed and became brown, necrotic, and rotted, identical to the symptoms observed in the fields, whereas the roots of control plants developed normally. The pathogen was reisolated from the necrotic tissue of the inoculated roots but not from the control plants, and its identity was confirmed by PCR with the primers Fp1-1/Fp1-2 described above, fulfilling Koch's postulates. To our knowledge, this is the first report of maize seedling blight caused by F. pseudograminearum in China. Our finding indicates the potential spread of F. pseudograminearum on maize, and more attention should be paid to the prevention and control of maize seedling blight caused by F. pseudograminearum.The author(s) declare no conflict of interest.References:Aoki, T., and O'Donnell, K. 1999. Mycologia 91:597. https://doi.org/10.2307/3761245 Crossref, ISI, Google ScholarO'Donnell, K., et al. 1998. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 95:2044. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.95.5.2044 Crossref, ISI, Google ScholarWhite, T. J., et al. 1990. Page 315 in: PCR Protocols: A Guide to Methods and Applications. Academic Press, San Diego, CA. Google ScholarFunding: This research was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 32102181), Shandong Provincial Natural Science Foundation (No. ZR2021QC059), Wheat Industry Technology System of Shandong Province (No. SDAIT-01-10), and Agricultural Science and Technology Innovation Project of SAAS (No. CXGC2021A38 and CXGC2021A33).The author(s) declare no conflict of interest.DetailsFiguresLiterature CitedRelated Vol. 106, No. 9 September 2022SubscribeISSN:0191-2917e-ISSN:1943-7692 Download Metrics Article History Issue Date: 30 Aug 2022Published: 1 Aug 2022First Look: 12 Mar 2022Accepted: 2 Mar 2022 Page: 2519 Information© 2022 The American Phytopathological SocietyFundingNational Natural Science Foundation of ChinaGrant/Award Number: 32102181Shandong Provincial Natural Science FoundationGrant/Award Number: ZR2021QC059Wheat Industry Technology System of Shandong ProvinceGrant/Award Number: SDAIT-01-10Agricultural Science and Technology Innovation Project of SAASGrant/Award Number: CXGC2021A38Grant/Award Number: CXGC2021A33KeywordscropfungiFusarium pseudograminearumseedling blightyield lossZea maysThe author(s) declare no conflict of interest.PDF downloadCited byTranscriptomic Profiling of Fusarium pseudograminearum in Response to Carbendazim, Pyraclostrobin, Tebuconazole, and Phenamacril8 March 2023 | Journal of Fungi, Vol. 9, No. 3Pest categorisation of Fusarium pseudograminearumEFSA Journal, Vol. 20, No. 6