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Screening of mulberry germplasm linesagainst Powdery mildew, Myrotheciumleaf spot and Pseudocercospora leafspot disease complexManas Dev Maji a , Haradhan Sau a & Bimal Kumar Das aa Central Sericultural Research and Training Institute ,Berhampore, 742101, IndiaPublished online: 12 Aug 2009.

To cite this article: Manas Dev Maji , Haradhan Sau & Bimal Kumar Das (2009) Screening ofmulberry germplasm lines against Powdery mildew, Myrothecium leaf spot and Pseudocercosporaleaf spot disease complex, Archives Of Phytopathology And Plant Protection, 42:9, 805-811, DOI:10.1080/03235400701390943

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Screening of mulberry germplasm lines against Powderymildew, Myrothecium leaf spot and Pseudocercospora leafspot disease complex

MANAS DEV MAJI, HARADHAN SAU, & BIMAL KUMAR DAS

Central Sericultural Research and Training Institute, Berhampore – 742101, India

(Received 11 April 2007)

AbstractFifty-six indigenous and 29 exotic mulberry varieties were screened against powdery mildew,Myrothecium leaf spot, Pseudocercospora leaf spot for a period of three years under field conditions.The percent disease index (PDI) was recorded during the peak season of the diseases. Out of 85germplasm lines studied four-germplasm lines viz. Thailand lobed (0.43), M. multicaulis (2.63), Italian(2.83) and M. australis (4.56) were found highly resistant; nine lines were resistant; 43 lines weremoderately resistant and 29 were susceptible to the disease complex. Powdery mildew showedsignificant positive correlation with Pseudocercospora leaf spot. Highly resistant varieties may be utilizedfor future disease resistance breeding programme to evolve multiple disease resistant mulberry varieties.

Keywords: Morus spp., powdery mildew, Myrothecium leaf spot, Pseudocercospora leaf spot,resistance, screening

Introduction

Mulberry (Morus sp.) is a fast growing perennial tree. It is cultivated as bush, middle bush and

tree for its valued leaf for silkworm (Bombyx mori L.) rearing. Mulberry is affected by several

pathogenic diseases caused by fungi, bacteria, mycoplasma and virus (Yokoyama 1962;

Rangaswami et al. 1978; Sengupta et al. 1990; Yashihiko 1995). Foliar diseases, viz. Powdery

mildew [Phyllactinia corylea (Pers) Karst.], Myrothecium leaf spot [Myrothecium roridum Tode

Ex. Fr] and Pseudocercospora leaf spot [Pseudocercospora mori (Hara) Deighton] are important

foliar diseases in the eastern and north eastern part of India (Maji 2002, 2003a). The disease

complex starts appearing from the second week of October and continued up to November.

The disease complex causes 10 – 15% leaf yield loss. Besides, diseased leaves are poorer in

nutrient content (Chanturia 1968; Umesh Kumar 1991). Feeding of diseased leaves prolongs

the larval period and reduces cocoon yield (Noamani et al. 1970; Umesh Kumar et al. 1993).

Chemical, botanical and biological controls against foliar diseases have been developed

(Biswas et al. 1993; Gangwar et al. 2000; Chattopadhyay et al. 2002; Maji et al. 2000, 2003b,

Correspondence: M. D. Maji, Central Sericultural Research and Training Institute, Central Silk Board (Min. of Textiles: Govt. of

India) Berhampore-742101, India. Tel: þ91-3482-262598. Fax: þ91-03482-251233. E-mail: mdmaji2000@yahoo.co.in

Archives of Phytopathology and Plant Protection

September 2009; 42(9): 805–811

ISSN 0323-5408 print/ISSN 1477-2906 online ª 2009 Taylor & Francis

DOI: 10.1080/03235400701390943

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2003c; Pratheesh Kumar et al. 2004). Chemical control has some limitations as the cost for

chemical control is high, there residual toxicity to silkworms and it is hazardous to the

environment. Moreover, repeated use of fungicide leads to the evolution of resistant

pathogens. By far the best method for control of plant diseases is to raise plants to have the

capacity to remain disease free in the presence of pathogens (Pelczar et al. 1977). Plantation of

disease resistant mulberry variety is advantageous to farmers, because mulberry is propagated

by stem cuttings and once planted, its active growth phase remains for 15 years. Pelczar et al.

(1977) opined that wild species under natural selection are capable of resisting many, perhaps

most, infections that occur in nature. Central Sericulture Research and Training Institute,

Berhampore, a premier sericultural research organization in the eastern and north eastern

region of India, has rich exotic and indigenous germplasm resources. Several workers

screened mulberry varieties separately against these diseases (Govindaiah et al. 1989; Maji

et al. 2005). But no work has been done on screening for this multiple disease complex

comprising three diseases at a time for the resistance breeding programme. Therefore, the

present screening work has been carried out to fulfill the above objective to select a few

multiple disease resistant lines for future disease resistance breeding programmes.

Materials and methods

Six month old mulberry saplings of 56 indigenous and 29 exotic mulberry varieties were

planted in microplots (1006100) with 20620 spacing at the Central Sericultural Research

and Training Institute, Berhampore, West Bengal, India (latitude 248601300N, longitude

8881503700E, tropical monsoon climate and altitude 19 m above MSL). Powdery mildew,

Myrothecium leaf spot, Pseudocercospora leaf spot disease complex severity were recorded

60 days after pruning during November for three years. Disease data was recorded by

randomly selecting five plants of each variety. In each plant, foliar disease severity was

assessed from three randomly selected branches using a 0 – 5 visual rating scale (Maji et al.

2000). In this scale, 0 - healthy leaf, 1¼ 1 – 5% leaf area infected, 2¼ 6 – 10% leaf area

infected, 3¼ 11 – 25% leaf area infected, 4¼ 26 – 50% leaf area infected, 5¼ 51% and above

leaf area infected. Percent of disease index (PDI) was calculated according to the FAO (1967)

formula.

Percent disease index ¼ Sum of all numerical rating

Total no. of leaves counted�Maximum grade� 100

Mulberry varieties were categorized considering disease severity as 0¼ Immune, 0.01 – 5%

highly resistant; 5.01 – 10%; resistant; 10.01 – 25% moderately resistant, 25.01 – 50% sus-

ceptible; 50.01 – 100% highly susceptible.

Results

Results emerging from the present investigation indicated that mulberry germplasm lines

were affected by powdery mildew, Myrothecium leaf spot and Pseudocercospora leaf spot disease

complex. The disease reaction indicated that all the varieties were infected by disease complex

as evident from the data presented in Table I. The average disease complex severity was

20.89%, while maximum disease severity was 41.08%. Among the screened lines for multiple

disease complex, four germplasm lines viz. Thailand lobed (0.43), M. multicaulis (2.63),

Italian (2.83) and M. australis (4.56), were found to be highly resistant; nine lines were

806 M. D. Maji et al.

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Table I. Disease response of some exotic and indigenous mulberry varieties to powdery mildew, Myrothecium leaf spot

and Pseudocercospora leaf spot disease complex.

Mulberry varieties Origin

Percent disease index

CDI

Disease

responsePMLD MLS PLS

Thailand-Lobed Thailand 0.22 0.07 0.14 0.43 HR

M. multicaulis Italy 2.14 0.13 0.36 2.63 HR

Italian Italy 2.47 0.17 0.19 2.83 HR

M. australis Australia 2.38 0.12 2.06 4.56 HR

Rotundiloba France 4.80 0.30 0.08 5.18 R

Australia Australia 4.85 0.57 0.65 6.07 R

KPG-2 Kalimpong 4.91 0.19 0.98 6.08 R

MR-1 Karnataka 4.89 0.17 1.12 6.18 R

Kanva-2 Karnataka 4.11 0.32 1.92 6.35 R

Fernandodias Paraguay 6.45 0.04 0.69 7.18 R

Almora local Uttaranchal 6.97 0.12 1.80 8.89 R

Okinowaso Japan 6.65 0.67 1.71 9.03 R

Surat Gujrat 5.64 0.09 3.91 9.64 R

Multicaulis France 4.77 0.23 5.30 10.30 MR

China (White) China 10.25 0.67 0.66 11.58 MR

Dudhia White West Bengal 8.04 0.23 3.59 11.86 MR

Bogura-1 Bangladesh 10.44 0.22 1.61 12.27 MR

Cyprus Cyprus 10.09 0.33 2.18 12.60 MR

CSRS-2 West Bengal 10.35 0.90 2.22 13.47 MR

M. indica (Black) West Bengal 10.89 0.93 1.70 13.52 MR

Sujanpur Punjab 8.07 0.00 5.57 13.64 MR

Sujanpur-5 Punjab 7.25 1.12 6.09 14.46 MR

Assambola Assam 10.59 0.77 3.30 14.66 MR

Bush Malda-B West Bengal 13.13 0.00 2.63 15.76 MR

Bogura-4 Bangladesh 11.76 0.52 4.01 16.29 MR

V1 Karnataka 12.52 0.31 3.52 16.35 MR

Kolitha-8 West Bengal 7.36 0.58 8.51 16.45 MR

MS-8 Karnataka 14.21 0.25 2.03 16.49 MR

China black-B China 11.59 0.52 4.53 16.64 MR

Mandalaya Burma 10.64 1.13 5.05 16.82 MR

Kajli West Bengal 13.47 0.19 3.25 16.91 MR

Bishnupur-4 West Bengal 15.82 0.38 1.34 17.54 MR

Thailand (Unlobed) Thailand 15.05 0.64 2.02 17.71 MR

Koliakuthai Assam 16.15 0.00 1.64 17.79 MR

Kurseong West Bengal 16.14 0.07 2.54 18.75 MR

Berhampore-6 West Bengal 14.64 0.05 5.18 19.87 MR

Calebrasa Paraguay 17.63 0.00 2.46 20.09 MR

Matigara-White West Bengal 13.70 0.42 5.99 20.11 MR

Kakpilla Assam 13.87 1.29 5.12 20.28 MR

Berhampore-B West Bengal 16.71 0.44 3.24 20.39 MR

Berhampore-20 West Bengal 16.66 0.00 3.82 20.48 MR

MS-1 Karnataka 11.81 1.56 7.16 20.53 MR

Jatinuni Assam 18.51 0.00 2.11 20.62 MR

MS-5 Karnataka 15.04 0.92 5.28 21.24 MR

MS-9 Karnataka 18.83 0.40 2.22 21.45 MR

M. indica X West Bengal 16.68 0.40 4.60 21.68 MR

Jodhpur Rajasthan 18.14 0.71 3.38 22.23 MR

Mysore local Karnataka 18.46 0.66 3.43 22.55 MR

Shrim-2 Bangladesh 21.84 0.25 0.89 22.98 MR

Golaghat Assam 22.00 0.09 1.72 23.81 MR

(continued )

Screening of mulberry germplasm lines against disease complex 807

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resistant; 43 lines were moderately resistant and 29 were susceptible to the disease complex.

Highly resistant genotypes lines were found to be resistant to all three pathogens. Disease

response of 85 genotype lines revealed that 5% were highly resistant, 11% resistant, 50%

moderately resistant and 34% susceptible (Figure 1). A simple correlation study among

disease complexes revealed that powdery mildew has a significant positive correlation with

Pseudocercospora leaf spot. However, Myrothecium leaf spot did not exhibit correlation with the

other two diseases (Table II).

Table I. (Continued).

Mulberry varieties Origin

Percent disease index

CDI

Disease

responsePMLD MLS PLS

MS-7 Karnataka 22.39 0.41 1.22 24.02 MR

M. cathyana Indonesia 23.39 0.10 0.91 24.40 MR

KPG-1 West Bengal 14.90 0.55 9.15 24.60 MR

Black cherry Karnataka 22.40 0.88 1.54 24.82 MR

M indica h.p West Bengal 23.40 0.50 1.17 25.07 MR

Matigara-Black West Bengal 21.55 0.62 2.93 25.10 MR

Burma-8 Burma 19.96 0.13 5.07 25.16 SUS

Bush Malda-A West Bengal 12.43 0.04 13.35 25.82 SUS

S1635 West Bengal 15.16 1.00 9.82 25.98 SUS

ACC165 Karnataka 23.02 0.39 2.89 26.30 SUS

Berhampore-A West Bengal 23.63 0.42 2.30 26.35 SUS

RFS-175 Karnataka 17.89 1.81 6.89 26.59 SUS

OPH-1 Karnataka 16.50 0.83 10.83 28.16 SUS

Philippines Philippines 22.33 0.26 5.57 28.16 SUS

Bishnupur-9 West Bengal 25.54 0.38 2.40 28.32 SUS

FGDTR-9 Karnataka 24.68 0.42 3.22 28.32 SUS

Monlai Burma 25.48 0.22 2.65 28.35 SUS

Molai Assam 26.59 0.09 1.70 28.38 SUS

Kokusa-13 Japan 26.88 0.36 1.42 28.66 SUS

S1 West Bengal 25.54 1.85 1.88 29.27 SUS

Miuaso Paraguaya 26.24 0.42 3.58 30.24 SUS

Dudhia red West Bengal 24.32 0.32 5.61 30.25 SUS

Punjab local Punjab 27.37 0.07 2.81 30.25 SUS

Tista Valley West Bengal 26.87 0.51 3.03 30.41 SUS

M. nigra Indonesia 17.23 0.41 13.00 30.64 SUS

Nagaland local Nagaland 25.98 0.67 4.87 31.52 SUS

Shrim-5 Bangladesh 26.06 0.62 6.76 33.44 SUS

Kolitha-9 West Bengal 31.20 0.34 4.41 35.95 SUS

Tollygangue West Bengal 27.84 0.00 8.11 35.95 SUS

MS-6 Karnataka 32.62 0.39 3.52 36.53 SUS

Sultanpur U.P 29.50 0.36 6.78 36.64 SUS

Monla-1 Burma 28.68 0.27 8.89 37.84 SUS

Kollitha-3 West Bengal 33.71 0.22 4.02 37.95 SUS

Shrim-8 Bangladesh 33.39 0.29 5.88 39.56 SUS

Kolitha-7 West Bengal 30.64 0.21 10.23 41.08 SUS

Mean 20.89

SD +9.34

PMLD: Powdery mildew HR: Highly resistant

MLS: Myrothecium leaf spot R: Resistant

PLS: Pseudocercospora leaf spot MR: Moderately resistant

CDI: Cumulatative disease index S: Susceptible

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Discussion

Healthy and nutritious leaf is a prerequisite for healthy growth of silkworm (Bombyx mori

L.) and good cocoon harvest (Chowdhury 1992). The occurrence of foliar diseases is one of

the limiting factors of production for healthy and nutritious mulberry leaves. Foliar diseases

alone reduce by 10 – 15% leaf production per unit area of land (Sengupta et al. 1990). To

overcome crop loss due to diseases and repeated application of fungicide, development of

resistant mulberry varieties is the best option. Among the foliar diseases, powdery mildew is

reported from all sericulture practicing countries. This disease causes havoc leaf loss during

favourable seasons. Myrothecium roridum induced leaf spot has been reported from India and

Japan (Govindaiah et al. 1989; Maji et al. 2002, 2003a; Murkai et al. 2002). Another fungal

leaf spot disease induced by Pseudocercospora mori has emerged as a new disease in this

region. To overcome crop loss due to diseases and repeated application of fungicide,

development of resistance mulberry varieties is the best option. Among the germplasm lines,

there was a wide variation in disease complex. This deviation in response of genotypes to

incident pathogen reflects that a genetic mechanism specific to host plants confers the

ability to withstand or become susceptible to the disease (Jindal & Bhavani Shankar 2002).

To differentiate various degrees of resistance, Vander Plank (1963) coined the term vertical

resistance and horizontal resistance. Vertical resistance varieties are resistant to specific

Table II. Correlation coefficient among the Powdery mildew, Myrothecium leaf spot and Pseudocercospora leaf spot.

Disease Powdery mildew Myrothecium leaf spot

Myrothecium leaf spot 0.010

Pseudocercospora leaf spot 0.215* 0.186

*Denotes significance at 5% level.

Figure 1. Distribution of multiple disease complex response of mulberry germplasm lines.

Screening of mulberry germplasm lines against disease complex 809

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races of pathogen but are susceptible to other races and horizontal resistance varieties are

resistant against several races of pathogen. Nagarajan (1983) opined that vertical resistance

is governed by a single dominant gene whereas as horizontal resistance is governed by

polygenes. Since vertical resistance is monogenic or oligogenic in nature, transfer of such

genes in popular varieties is possible. Vertical resistance also has limitations because it is

specific to one race of pathogen but not all. When the matching race infects the genotype,

the apparent rate of infection is not reduced. Nagarajan (1983) suggested blending of both

types of resistance for crop improvement. In spite of several resistant varieties available in

mulberry for Powdery mildew, Myrothecium leaf spot and Pseudocercospora leaf spot, none of

them have multiple disease resistant characters. The highly resistant genotypes identified in

the study may have horizontal resistance against the three pathogens. These genotypes can

be utilized for future disease resistance breeding programmes to evolve disease resistant

mulberry varieties.

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