Molecular Plant Breeding 2016, Vol.7, No.25, 1
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8
1
ResearchArticle Open Access
Perpetuation of
Alternaria solani
of Potato under Temperate Kashmir Valley
Conditions
Ganie S.A.
1
, Ghani M. Y.
1
, Lone Ashiq Hussain
2
, Ahangar F.A.
1
1 Division of Plant Pathology
,
Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology of Kashmir, Shalimar, Srinagar 191121, India
2 Department of Botany, University of Kashmir, Srinagar, India
Corresponding author Email
Molecular Plant Breeding, 2016, Vol.7, No.25 doi
Received: 17 Feb., 2016
Accepted: 2 Apr., 2016
Published: 18 Apr., 2016
Copyright © 2016
Ganie et al., This is an open access article published under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits
unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Preferred citation for this article
:
Ganie S.A.,
Ghani M. Y.,
Lone Ashiq Hussain., and Ahangar F.A., 2016, Perpetuation of
Alternaria solani
of Potato under Temperate Kashmir Valley
Conditions, Molecular Plant Breeding, 7(25): 1-9 (doi
)
Abstract
The present study on perpetuation of
Alternaria solani
, causing early blight of potato in Kashmir valley was conducted
during 2009 and 2010. The perpetuation of the fungus
A. solani
was studied on diseased leaves by placing the leaves on ground
surface and at 20 cm depth, as well as on diseased potatoes kept in ambient store. The pathogen perpetuated as mycelium and conidia
throughout winter on diseased leaves left on the ground surface and on diseased potatoes kept in ambient store. The number of spores
cm
-2
leaf area and the viability of spores decreased with increase in depth of placement in soil. Maximum spores production on over
wintered leaves was observed during first fortnight of June during the year 2009 and 2010, with maximum number of 294 and 323
spores, respectively. However, by the first fortnight of July, the number gradually declined to 160 and 220 spores, respectively. The
highest spore viability of 44.3 and 49.3 per cent in leaves on ground surface was recorded in the first fortnight of June, 2009 and
2010, respectively. In potatoes kept in ambient store the average number of spores increased upto first fortnight of June, both in 2009
and 2010, with a maximum number of 430 and 508 spores, respectively. The number then gradually declined to 216 and 263 spores,
respectively, till last observation recorded in the second fortnight of July.
Keywords
Perpetuation;
Alternaria solani;
Potato; Ambient store; Ground surface
Introduction
Potato is one of the most important crops in the world and is planted in 18.2 million ha and a total yield reached
314.1 million ton (FAO, 2010). Potato is considered ‘The King’ in food staples and hardly any domestic kitchen is
available which does not use it in one or the other form as it possesses all the attributes to be a potential food crop.
Potato contains significant levels of phenolic compounds and vitamin C as potent antioxidants (Brown, 2005) ,
which inactivate reactive oxygen species, reduce oxidative damage, lead to improved immune functions and
reduce risk of cardiovascular diseases, cancer, cataract, diabetes and aging (Kour et al. , 2004). Potato is highly
remunerative and nutritive crop in Jammu and Kashmir particularly in high altitude cold and cold arid areas of
Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) where it serves as a staple food. Early blight, caused by
Alternaria solani
(Ellis and
Martin), Jones and Grout, is a serious disease of potatoes that occurs in most potato growing regions world-wide
Christ (1990); Pelletier and Fry (1990); Shtienberg et al. (1990) Van der Walls et al. (2001)
The disease often
occurs initially on older, less productive foliage, followed by a gradual upward progression within the canopy,
resulting in premature leaf senescence (Franc and Christ 2001, Rotem 1994). If the inoculum load is high during
favourable environmental conditions, early blight may become severe enough to cause significant reductions in
yield (Kapsa and Osowski 2003, Patel et al., 2004, Shtienberg et al., 1996, Teng and Bissonnette 1985, Van der
Waals et al., 2001).
Heavy infection early in the growing season can cause yield losses of 20 - 50% (Denner and Theron, 1999). Yield
loss estimates resulting from foliar damage incited by early blight on potato vary by location, cropping season,
cultivar, and the stage of potato maturity. In general, yield reductions of 20-30% have been reported in USA
(Christ and Maczuga, 1989, Shtienberg et al., 1990). Early blight may also cause dry rot of tubers, reducing both
the quantity and quality of marketable tubers (Nnodu et al., 1982). Environmental factors such as temperature,
