Screen house and field resistance of taro cultivars to taro leaf blight disease (Phytophtora colocasiae)

Article PurchasedIntroduction: Taro leaf blight disease cause by Phytophtora colocasiae has become an economic disease in Cocoyam growing regions of Cameroon. Aims: To screen for resistance 10 improved and 4 local cultivars of taro against taro leaf blight disease. Study Design: A randomized complete block design study. Place of Study: Studies were conducted at the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) Yaounde Nkolbisson from July 2013 to January 2014. Methodology: Taro cultivars from tissue culture were planted in the screen house conditions and tested for virulence and pathogenicity with 4 isolates of Phythophthora colocasiae at spore density of 3×104 spores /ml of distilled water. Plants were planted in the field to assess disease incidence and severity. Results: The results obtained on the different taro cultivars, revealed that all the 4 isolates showed variable pathogenicity. They caused lesions on inoculated leaves. There was variability in pathogenicity based on the small lesion lengths produced on cultivars, these included BL/SM132 and Red petiole. Isolate 3 showed a stronger sensitivity to leaf collapse and defoliation irrespective of the cultivar tested. There was a significant difference (p = 0.05) in tissue collapse and leaf defoliation on exposure to the different fungal isolates. The result of field infection rates of P. colocasiae at 126 DAP-154 DAP on 10 improved and 4 local cultivars indicated that there was significant variability (p = 0.05) in incidence and disease severity, with high incidence and severity occurring at 154 DAP in all cultivars. Improved cultivar BL/SM132 showed no classic symptoms of P. colocasiae and therefore it was resistant to Phytophthora colocasiae. Conclusion: The results obtained on virulence and pathogenicity of Phythophthora colocasiae on the different taro cultivars revealed that all the 4 isolates showed variable pathogenicity. They caused lesions, on inoculated leaves. Isolate 3 showed a stronger sensitivity to leaf collapse and defoliation irrespective of the cultivar tested. The result of field infection rates of P. colocasiae at 126 DAP-154 DAP on 10 improved and 4 local cultivars indicated that there was a significant variability (p = 0.05) in disease incidence and severity, with high incidence and severity occurring at 154 DAP in all cultivars. Improved cultivar BL/SM132 showed no classic symptoms of P. colocasiae and therefore it was resistant to Phytophthora colocasiae as compared to all the other cultivars which showed high severity rates of infection of the disease and thus were susceptible to the disease

Application of in-vitro micropropagation technique for sustainable production of four local taro cultivars [Colocasia esculenta (L.) Schott] in Cameroon

Open Access JournalTaro leaf blight disease has recently been reported in Cameroon to cause between 50 and 100% yields loss of taro in most of the agro-ecological crop growing regions. This has led to a significant reduction in disease-free planting materials, edible crop and increased. The Meristem culture technique has been used to produce crop plants free of viruses and fungi especially in vegetative propagated colocassia plants. This aimed at applying in-vitro micro-propagation technique for sustainable production of four local taro cultivars in Cameroon. This study was conducted at the Root and Tuber Tissue Culture Laboratory, of the Institute of Agricultural Research for Development (IRAD), Bambui from April 2015 to November 2016. Micro-plants from four local taro cultivars were produced in vitro from apical meristem tips. The tip meristems were excised from corms of the four local taro cultivars. The excised explants were surface sterilized with alcohol and sodium hypochlorite in sequence steps at different concentrations. Meristems were cultured at establishment stage on Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium with 30 g of sugar, 1.1 ml of 6-benzylaminopurine and 7 g of agar. Shoots proliferation was induced in MS with 2.2 ml of 6-benzylaminopurine (BAP). Result shows a significant difference at p≤0.5 in number of shoots, petiole length, open leaf and corm diameter among the cultivars and no significant variation in mean number of senescence leaf with respect to all the cultivars, at 60 days of shoot tip culture. At rooting stage, taro shoots were cultured on MS media supplemented with 10 ml of 0.1 mg/ml naphthalene acetic-acid (NAA). Roots were produced on all the cultivars with excellent mean growth rate of 14.7 ± 0.69 recorded in cultivar with dark green petiole and small leaves

Impact of fungicide application on taro leaf blight disease in three regions of Cameroon

Open Access JournalThe study was conducted in the research field sites of the Institute of Agricultural Research (IRAD), Bambui, North West Region, (IRAD), Ekona South West Region and the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) Nkolbisson, Yaoundé, Center Region of Cameroon. Four cultivars of taro (Dark green petiole with small leaves (L1), Red petiole with small leaves (L2), Light green petiole with large leaves (L3) and Light green petiole with small leaves(L4)) were planted in four seasons, for two years, in the months of March and July 2015, March and July 2016 in all the research farms. Ninety corms of the each cultivar were treated before planting with fungiforce at 0.33% concentration while others were not treated. Fungiforce is a contact and systemic fungicide containing high levels of copper oxide (600 grams) and mild levels of metalaxyl (120 grams), various concentrations of 0.4%, 0.33%, 0.27%, at the onset of the first symptom of leaf blight on the leaves using knapsack sprayer of 15 litres at two weeks interval, while the control experiment consisted of unsprayed taro leaves. Data for the disease incidence of taro leaf blight was recorded from the onset of disease in fields and continued at two weeks interval for 6 weeks. The results of planting taro in four seasons in three experimental field sites revealed that there was a decrease in disease incidence in fields sprayed with fungiforce than in the control field. Plots sprayed with fungicide at different concentrations showed no variation on the 4 cultivars in the different field sites. The disease incidence ranged from 10% to 100% in the 4 seasons, at the three experimental field sites. The variation in disease incidence in the three planting sites is an indication of possible genotypes by environment (GXE) interaction that may have significant influence on the taro leaf blight resistance potential

Role of insect vector Pseudotheraptus devastans in cassava anthracnose disease development

The aim of this study was to investigate the role of Pseudotheraptus devastans in cassava anthracnose disease transmission and development. P. devastans, Dist (Het. Coriedae) insects were collected from cassava (Manihot esculenta Crantz) field plots at the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture, Ibadan, Nigeria and reared in large cages. The insects were separated at different developmental growth stages of eggs, first to fifth instar nymph, and adults. The different stages of P. devastans showed the presence of Colletotrichum gloeosporioides both externally and internally. Isolates of C. gloeosporioides derived from the insects produced cassava anthracnose disease symptoms (necrotic lesions, wilt and defoliation) 8 weeks after inoculation on two cassava clones. Re-infectivity of cassava plants by the insect-derived fungus established that P. devastans was a potential vector in anthracnose transmission. Except for the first and second instar nymphs, all nymph stages and adult insects produced significant anthracnose symptoms on cassava plants. Defoliation and lesion diameters were greatest using fifth instar nymphs and adult insects. The association between P. devastans feeding and C. gloeosporioides f.sp. manihotis, showed that feeding by P. devastans followed by fungal inoculation and vice versa resulted in more severe anthracnose symptoms than insect feeding or fungal inoculation alone. It was also observed that the influence of P. devastans damage/infection on the development of anthracnose depended on cassava cultivar resistance to both the fungus and the insect feeding

Rapid screening method of cassava cultivars for resistance to Collectotrichum gloeosporioides f.sp. manihotis

Published online: 08 March 2002An in vitro method for assessing cassava anthracnose disease (CAD) resistance was developed as a preliminary screen to a CAD‐resistant breeding programme. Potato dextrose agar (PDA) media was amended by extracts from the stem cortex of 10 cassava cultivars (30001; 30572, 30211, 88/02549, 88/00695, 88/01336, 91/00344, 91/00313, 91/00684 and 91/00475), and assayed for efficacy of inhibition of the growth of Colletotrichum gloeosporioides f. sp. manihotis isolates (05FCN, 10FCN, 12FCN, and 18FCN). Morphological and physiological data indicated that there was a significant difference (P ≤ 0.05), in mycelial growth, spore germination and sporulation among the four isolates on PDA amended with cassava stem extracts. Extracts from cassava cultivars 30211, 91/00684 and 91/00313 showed higher inhibition of germ tube development, mycelial growth and sporulation of the fungal isolates, whereas cultivars 88/02549 and 88/01336 showed the least inhibition. The 10 cultivars were further tested in both greenhouse and field conditions, under disease pressure for two planting seasons, to corroborate resistance to the fungus as observed in vitro. Greenhouse and field trials with the 10 cassava cultivars showed a significant difference (P ≤ 0.05) in CAD resistance. Cultivars 88/02549 and 88/01336 were highly CAD‐susceptible, as shown in the in vitro assays and confirmed in the greenhouse and field tests. The other eight cultivars were either resistant (30211, 91/00684), or moderately resistant (30572, 88/00695, 91/00475, 91/00344, 30001 and 91/00313) to CAD. The study shows that an in vitro screening assay of cassava for resistance to CAD could serve as a convenient preliminary screening technique to discriminate CAD‐resistant from CAD‐susceptible cassava cultivars. The in vitro screening method considerably reduces time and labour in comparison with the current screening techniques of cassava, which involve field planting, inoculation and evaluation

Investigation of inoculum threshold and latent infection in Colletotrichum gloeosporiodes f. sp. manihotis in cassava cultivars

Studies were conducted at the advance pathology laboratory and glasshouse at the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), Ibadan, Nigeria, to determine the inoculums threshold of fungal suspensions at different concentration levels, and also to investigate latent infection of cassava anthracnose disease pathogen, (colletotrichum gloeosporioides f. sp. Manihotis), in cassava cultivars. This study showed that fungal suspension could initiate disease infection at very low inoculums concentration of 3.3 x 10 colony forming units (CFU)/ml of sterile distilled water. There was a general increase in percentage leaf infection and defoliation in the cassava cultivars with increase in inoculums concentration and incubation period. Symptomless cassava plant materials after incubation at 25-2c for seven days showed the presence of acervuli of anthracnose fungus in more than 80% of the cassava cultivars. This was an indication that symptomless cassava materials contain C. gloeosporiodes f. sp. Manihotis that can only manifest itself under favourable environmental conditions during the course of growth and development of the host plant

In vitro, greenhouse, and field assessment of cassava lines for resistance to anthracnose disease caused by colletotrichum gloeosporiodes f. sp. Manihotis

Fifty-three cassava lines were selected from breeding populations at the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), Ibadan, Nigeria and screened in vitro for resistance to cassava anthracnose disease (CAD). The in vitro inoculation of stem cuttings with the fungus Colletotrichum gloeosporioides f.sp. manihotis showed significant differences (p ± 0.05) in acervuli production and in the sensitivity of the cassava lines to the fungal infection after 7 days of incubation at 25 ◦C. Cassava lines 88/01084, 91/00595, 91/00475, 91/00344, 91/00684, 91/00313, 91/00422, and 91/00344 were highly resistant, with necrotic lesion sizes less than 7 mm. In contrast pedigree lines 88/02549, 89/0008, 91/00390 and 91/00402 were highly susceptible with the largest necrotic lesion size being greater than 20 mm. Ten cassava lines from the in vitro screening that showed varying levels of resistance to CAD were selected, based on their flowering abilities for diallel hydridization trials, and were further screened in greenhouse and field trials for CAD resistance. The greenhouse and field screening showed significant varietal differences (p ± 0.05) in sensitivity to the fungus. In all cases, the progeny lines showed correlated levels of resistance irrespective of the type of screening or assessments. Correlation analysis of the in vitro, greenhouse and field assessments showed that there was a good correspondence among all three methods of evaluating for CA

Anthracnose: an economic disease of cassava in Africa

Cassava anthracnose disease (CAD) caused by the fungus Colletotrichum gloeosporioides f.sp. manihotis has become one of the major economic diseases of cassava in Africa. The expansion of cassava production farmlands particularly in the humid rainfall zones of West and Central Africa has led to an increase in pathological problems of the crop. The increased epidemic levels of CAD had caused significant crop failure leading to severe food shortages for the poor subsistent farming population depending on the crop for their livelihood. This paper reviews the importance of the crop in terms of food security, CAD disease symptoms, epidemiology, yield losses and the possible control options within the frame work of integrated pest management systems (IPMS)

Cyanogenic potential in food crops and its implication in cassava ( Manihot esculenta Crantz) production

Cyanide a by-product from cyanogenic glucosides is toxic to humans and most living organisms due to its ability of binding to metals such as iron, zinc and copper functional groups of the ligands of most bio enzymes. The cyanide inhibits the reduction of oxygen in the respiratory electron transfer system, the inhibition of plastocyanin reduction in photosynthesis and catalase activity. The magnitude of cyanide metabolism varies greatly between different plant species. Although most plant species produce small amount of cyanide associated with ethylene production, between 3-12000 plant species produce sufficient amounts of cyanogenic compounds that they may function as translocatable forms of reduced nitrogen or as chemical defense molecules against pests and diseases. This paper discusses the cyanogenic potential (ability to produce hydrogen cyanide), in food crops, the importance of cassava as a cyanogenic food crop, cyanide toxicity, metabolism, the enzyme activities of linamarases ( -glucosidase), hydroxyl nitrile lyase, and cyanide detoxification processes