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Cercospora zeina is the causal agent of grey leaf spot disease of maize in southern Africa

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Abstract

The aim of our study was to identify the causal agent of grey leaf spot disease of maize in southern Africa. Single-conidial cultures were recovered from maize leaves with typical disease symptoms sampled from several fields in South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe. Morphology, cultural characteristics, and a PCR-based test using Cercospora zeae-maydis and C. zeina-specific primer sets identified all single-conidial cultures as C. zeina. In addition, sequence alignment of DNA fragments of the internal transcribed spacer region (ITS1, ITS2, and the 5.8S gene) and elongation factor 1-α grouped all cultures in the same clade as the C. zeina ex-type culture CBS 118820. To by-pass cultivation of the slow-growing fungus, a rapid method to isolate DNA directly from lesions was successfully applied for PCR identification of C. zeina with species-specific ITS and histone primers. Koch’s postulates were fulfilled for C. zeina by artificially inoculating maize plants in a greenhouse, re-isolating conidia emerging from lesions and verifying pathogen identity with molecular techniques. These results provide evidence that confirms the presence of C. zeina and absence of C. zeae-maydis in commercial maize plantations in southern Africa.

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Abbreviations

CI:

consistency index

EF:

elongation factor 1-α

GLS:

grey leaf spot

ITS:

internal transcribed spacer

RI:

retention index

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Acknowledgements

We thank Martin Coetzee for assistance with the phylogenetic analysis. The funding of this work was provided by the Department of Science and Technology through the PlantBio Trust, South Africa and a Post-doctoral Fellowship from the University of Pretoria to BM.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Plant Science, Forestry and Agricultural Biotechnology Institute (FABI), University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa

    Barbara Meisel, Jeanne Korsman & Dave K. Berger

  2. PANNAR Research Services (Pty) Ltd, PO Box 19, Greytown, South Africa

    Frederik J. Kloppers

Authors
  1. Barbara Meisel
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  2. Jeanne Korsman
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  3. Frederik J. Kloppers
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  4. Dave K. Berger
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Correspondence to Dave K. Berger.

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Meisel, B., Korsman, J., Kloppers, F.J. et al. Cercospora zeina is the causal agent of grey leaf spot disease of maize in southern Africa. Eur J Plant Pathol 124, 577–583 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10658-009-9443-1

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