Maize Stripe Virus: A Disease of Sorghum Emerging in South India

During the growing season several foliar diseases of sorghum (Sorghum bicolor) affect grain and stover yields, stover quality and digestibility of the residues. While It Is documented that foliar diseases of sorghum affect yields, no data were found In the literature on the effects of foliar diseases on crop residue yield and quality or the economic consequences for rural producers. Recently Rama Devi et al. (2000) Indicated that diseased residues command much lower prices In the fodder market. Preliminary studies conducted at ICRISAT, Patancheru, India Indicated that sorghum anthracnose (Colletotrichum graminicola) and maize stripe virus (MStV), a tenuivirus, reduce crop residue yield, quality and digestibility. Extensive on-farm surveys were conducted at various crop growth stages In India during 1999-2001 mainly to understand prevalence of foliar diseases, farmers' perceptions on sorghum diseases, feeding strategies and cropping pattern. In this article, we report the incidence and severity of MStV in farmers' fields and its likely effects on crop productivity based on the frequency of occurrence of MStV in Inoculated and control plots

Developing health-related indicators of climate change: Australian stakeholder perspectives

Published: 22 May 2017Climate-related health indicators are potentially useful for tracking and predicting the adverse public health effects of climate change, identifying vulnerable populations, and monitoring interventions. However, there is a need to understand stakeholders' perspectives on the identification, development, and utility of such indicators. A qualitative approach was used, comprising semi-structured interviews with key informants and service providers from government and non-government stakeholder organizations in South Australia. Stakeholders saw a need for indicators that could enable the monitoring of health impacts and time trends, vulnerability to climate change, and those which could also be used as communication tools. Four key criteria for utility were identified, namely robust and credible indicators, specificity, data availability, and being able to be spatially represented. The variability of risk factors in different regions, lack of resources, and data and methodological issues were identified as the main barriers to indicator development. This study demonstrates a high level of stakeholder awareness of the health impacts of climate change, and the need for indicators that can inform policy makers regarding interventions.Maryam Navi, Alana Hansen, Monika Nitschke, Scott Hanson-Easey and Dino Pisaniell

Effects of pounding and garlic extract on sorghum grain mold and grain quality

Of the many fungi associated with sorghum (Sorghum bicolor) grain mold complex, species of Altemaria, Curvulaha, Drechslera, Fusarium and Phoma are particularly widespread (Navl et al. 1999). Grain Infection by mold fungi can also reduce storage quality and seed germination. Apart from affecting grain quality, species of Fusarium produce mycotoxins leading to several chronic ailments In humans and animals (Bhat et al. 2000). To improve the quality of molded grain, Stenhouse et al. (1998) suggested dehulling to minimize mold damage observed on the pericarp

New sources of resistance to pearl millet downy mildew

Use of host plant resistance is the most effective method of control of downy mildew (Sclerospora ffaminicola) in pearl millet (Pennisetum gimicum). To identify new sources of resistance to the disease, we tested 500 accessions of diverse origin in two green house tests (spray and dip inoculations) and in a field disease nursery during 1992–93 at ICRISAT Asia Center. An accession was sown in two pots each in the green house, and in a 4-m row plant in two replications in the field disease nursery. Many accessions that were free from downy mildew in individual tests, but only two accessions, IP 8897 and IP 14619 remained downy mildew free and IP 17311 showed a high degree of resistance (%) in all the tests. Maximum disease incidence recorded was 9%, 44.4% and 61.3% in field, dip and spray-inoculation tests, respectively. The stability of resistance in the newly identified accession will be examined in multilocational tests in coming year

Fusarium longipes: a mycoparasite of Sclerospora graminicola on pearl millet

A mycoparasite, Fusor~urn longipes Wollenw. and Reinking, parasitizing Sclerospora graminicola, that causes downy mildew of pearl 'millet is reported. The mycoparasite attacks only downy mildew-infected areas of the leaves. The mycoparasite produces brownish spots with variable sizes and may cover the entire infected leaf under humid conditions resulting in the complete inhibition of sporangial produc~ion. Such plants are killed immaturely. Attempts to selectively control the mycoparasite by the use of fungicide or to identify genotypes which can support S. graminicola but not F. longipes have been unsuccessfu

Detection of Sclerospora graminicola Mycelium in Infected Pearl Millet Leaves

A method for the easy detection of fungal mycelium inside infected Pennisetum glaucum leaves, using staining with 1% cotton blue lactophenol, is described

Genetic Resistance to Pearl Millet Downy Mildew II. Resistance in Wild Relatives

Genetic resistance is the most economic and feasible method for control for downy mildew (DM) (Sclerospora graminicola) of pearl millet (Pennisetum glaucum). To identify genes for DM resistance with diverse origin, we tested 539 accessions of 12 wild Pennisetum species from 17 countries, in the greenhouse and field-disease nurseries. A total of 223 accessions were found DM free in all the tests. P. violaceum was the most susceptible of all the species, both for the frequency of susceptible accessions (93% accessions with >10% DM) and for the level of susceptibility (accessions showing up to 94% DM). Freedom of most of the P. schweinfurthii accessions from DM, coupled with resistance to rust (Puccinia penniseti), is encouraging because of its cross-compatibility with pearl millet. DM resistance genes from these wild species will be useful in the control of this disease, if found different from those of pearl millet. Successful cross-inoculation of pearl millet with sporangia produced on five wild species (P. violaceum, P. mollissimum, P. purpureum, P. padicellatum, and P. polystachyon) shows that these species may be serving as collateral/alternative hosts and also helping the pathogen in creating pathogenic variability. As-these species are present in all pearl millet growing areas, a precise information on their role under farmers’ field conditions is necessary for the development of cultivars with durable DM resistance

Acute ischaemic stroke in active cancer versus non-cancer patients: stroke characteristics, mechanisms and clinical outcomes.

Demographics, clinical characteristics, stroke mechanisms and long-term outcomes were compared between acute ischaemic stroke (AIS) patients with active cancer (AC) versus non-cancer patients. Using data from 2003 to 2021 in the Acute STroke Registry and Analysis of Lausanne, a retrospective cohort study was performed comparing patients with AC, including previously known and newly diagnosed cancers, with non-cancer patients. Patients with inactive cancer were excluded. Outcomes were the modified Rankin Scale (mRS) score at 3 months, death and cerebrovascular recurrences at 12 months before and after propensity score matching. Amongst 6686 patients with AIS, 1065 (15.9%) had a history of cancer. After excluding 700 (10.4%) patients with inactive cancer, there were 365 (5.5%) patients with AC and 5621 (84%) non-cancer AIS patients. Amongst AC patients, 154 (42.2%) strokes were classified as cancer related. In multivariable analysis, patients with AC were older (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] 1.02, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.00-1.03), had fewer vascular risk factors and were 48% less likely to receive reperfusion therapies (aOR 0.52, 95% CI 0.35-0.76). Three-month mRS scores were not different in AC patients (aOR 2.18, 95% CI 0.96-5.00). At 12 months, death (adjusted hazard ratio 1.91, 95% CI 1.50-2.43) and risk of cerebrovascular recurrence (sub-distribution hazard ratio 1.68, 95% CI 1.22-2.31) before and after propensity score matching were higher in AC patients. In a large institutional registry spanning nearly two decades, AIS patients with AC had less past cerebrovascular disease but a higher 1-year risk of subsequent death and cerebrovascular recurrence compared to non-cancer patients. Antithrombotic medications at discharge may reduce this risk in AC patients

Prevalence of major foliar and panicle diseases of Sorghum (Sorghum bicolor [L.] Moench) in the Deccan plateau of India

Extensive on-farm disease surveys were conducted from August 1999 until March 2001 in four sorghum-growing states of the Indian Deccan plateau. A total of 965 fields were surveyed covering 228 fields in Andhra Pradesh (AP), 406 in Karnataka (KAR), 290 in Maharashtra (MH) and 41 in Tamil Nadu (TN). Among 14 foliar diseases observed, maize stripe virus (MStV), a tenuivirus transmitted by the delphacid plant hopper (Peregrinus maidis), and among five panicle diseases, ergot or sugary disease (Claviceps sorghi and C. africana) were the most destructive diseases. MStV was prevalent in 28.4% and ergot in 13.4% of the fields surveyed in two years across four states. Yet, the mean incidence of MStV in AP was 6% with 85% mean severity. The values in KAR were 12% incidence and 83% severity, in MH 5% and 67%, and in TN 12% and 76%, respectively. The mean incidence of ergot in AP was 34% with 67% mean severity. The values in KAR were 41% and 79%, in MH, 30% and 67%, and in TN 100% and 100%, respectively. Variation in frequency of occurrence of MStV was observed between 1999 and 2001. Variations in frequency could be due to weather factors, vector survival, cropping pattern, and host specificity. The frequency of ergot also was varying among years, locations, seasons and cultivars. An ergot epidemic was observed during the 1999 rainy season in Maachinenipalli village (16°35′N; 78°3′E), Andhra Pradesh. In September 2000, the disease had spread to 13 neighboring administrative zones damaging about 130 000 ha. This paper elucidates the distribution of diseases observed between 1999 and 2001 but does not imply that the diseases are restricted necessarily to a particular zone or location

Bacterial leaf streak of sorghum - a new report from India

This paper reports the occurrence of bacterial leaf streak (Xanthomonas campestris pv. holcicola [Xanthomonas vasicola pv. holcicola]) on sorghum (Sorghum bicolor) at the ICRISAT research farm, Andhra Pradesh, India and in several farmers fields in Karnataka in 1999-2001. Disease symptoms were small water-soaked reddish-brown necrotic streaks that later broadened and developed tan centres with a narrow red margin. The bacterium was isolated and confirmed as X. campestris pv. holcicola based on antiserum reactions; this may be the first record of this pathogen on sorghum in India. Attempts to prove pathogenicity of the bacterium by inoculating sorghum seedlings with cultured isolates using various inoculation techniques were unsuccessful