Elucidating the Pathogen Variability of Northern Leaf Blight of Maize (Zea mays L.) in Bihar, India

Exserohilum turcicum is an emerging pathogen of maize causing the northern leaf blight (NLB) disease with severe losses. The disease prevails all over the area under production but has varying severity. A temperature of 13°C to 33°C, along with 75-84% relative humidity, favours the pathogen developm...

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Main Authors: Md. Arshad Anwer, Amod Kumar, Md. Mahtab Rashid, Shamsher Ahmad, Md. Abu Nayyer, Mohammad Imran, Md. Reyaz Ahmad, Raj Narain Singh
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Journal of Pure and Applied Microbiology 2024-12-01
Series:Journal of Pure and Applied Microbiology
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Online Access:https://microbiologyjournal.org/elucidating-the-pathogen-variability-of-northern-leaf-blight-of-maize-zea-mays-l-in-bihar-india/
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author Md. Arshad Anwer
Amod Kumar
Md. Mahtab Rashid
Shamsher Ahmad
Md. Abu Nayyer
Mohammad Imran
Md. Reyaz Ahmad
Raj Narain Singh
author_facet Md. Arshad Anwer
Amod Kumar
Md. Mahtab Rashid
Shamsher Ahmad
Md. Abu Nayyer
Mohammad Imran
Md. Reyaz Ahmad
Raj Narain Singh
author_sort Md. Arshad Anwer
collection DOAJ
description Exserohilum turcicum is an emerging pathogen of maize causing the northern leaf blight (NLB) disease with severe losses. The disease prevails all over the area under production but has varying severity. A temperature of 13°C to 33°C, along with 75-84% relative humidity, favours the pathogen development and growth. Thus, the present investigation was carried out to assess the prevalence of the disease in Bihar and the cultural, morphological, and pathogenic variability among the population through extensive field surveys conducted in maize-growing areas of seven major maize-producing districts of Bihar, India. A total of twenty-one isolates were identified as E. turcicum, which showed varying colony characteristics, colony margin, margin colour, pigmentation, growth pattern, sporulation, conidial shape, conidial size, and conidial septa. However, all the isolates produced characteristic symptoms of cigar-shaped necrotic lesions with variation in disease reaction on the leaves of susceptible maize inbred line CM-202. The isolates were categorized into three phylogenetic clusters with a coefficient of 0.42 based on their variations. A similar trend was observed, and three clusters with a coefficient of 0.52 were confirmed based on the disease reaction under field conditions. The isolates constituting Cluster I were deemed high virulent, followed by Cluster II as moderate virulent, and Cluster III as low virulent. All the isolates were further identified as Setosphaeria turcica, a teleomorph stage of E. turcicum, through molecular identification using ITS sequence analysis. Conclusively, a higher variability among the pathogen population was present, thus leading to the disease emergence, and their virulence assessment will aid in the identification of races and simultaneously accelerate the resistance breeding programmes in maize.
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spelling doaj-art-7ece6ee4a39945c7a8e2f25574fa69052025-08-20T02:39:24ZengJournal of Pure and Applied MicrobiologyJournal of Pure and Applied Microbiology0973-75102581-690X2024-12-0118428622874https://doi.org/10.22207/JPAM.18.4.57Elucidating the Pathogen Variability of Northern Leaf Blight of Maize (Zea mays L.) in Bihar, IndiaMd. Arshad Anwerhttps://orcid.org/0000-0001-8892-992XAmod Kumarhttps://orcid.org/0009-0009-1565-8714Md. Mahtab Rashidhttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-1216-1376Shamsher Ahmadhttps://orcid.org/0000-0001-8583-7069Md. Abu Nayyerhttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-3871-8806Mohammad Imranhttps://orcid.org/0009-0009-2496-1299Md. Reyaz Ahmadhttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-7992-9650Raj Narain Singhhttps://orcid.org/0000-0001-7087-0755Exserohilum turcicum is an emerging pathogen of maize causing the northern leaf blight (NLB) disease with severe losses. The disease prevails all over the area under production but has varying severity. A temperature of 13°C to 33°C, along with 75-84% relative humidity, favours the pathogen development and growth. Thus, the present investigation was carried out to assess the prevalence of the disease in Bihar and the cultural, morphological, and pathogenic variability among the population through extensive field surveys conducted in maize-growing areas of seven major maize-producing districts of Bihar, India. A total of twenty-one isolates were identified as E. turcicum, which showed varying colony characteristics, colony margin, margin colour, pigmentation, growth pattern, sporulation, conidial shape, conidial size, and conidial septa. However, all the isolates produced characteristic symptoms of cigar-shaped necrotic lesions with variation in disease reaction on the leaves of susceptible maize inbred line CM-202. The isolates were categorized into three phylogenetic clusters with a coefficient of 0.42 based on their variations. A similar trend was observed, and three clusters with a coefficient of 0.52 were confirmed based on the disease reaction under field conditions. The isolates constituting Cluster I were deemed high virulent, followed by Cluster II as moderate virulent, and Cluster III as low virulent. All the isolates were further identified as Setosphaeria turcica, a teleomorph stage of E. turcicum, through molecular identification using ITS sequence analysis. Conclusively, a higher variability among the pathogen population was present, thus leading to the disease emergence, and their virulence assessment will aid in the identification of races and simultaneously accelerate the resistance breeding programmes in maize.https://microbiologyjournal.org/elucidating-the-pathogen-variability-of-northern-leaf-blight-of-maize-zea-mays-l-in-bihar-india/maizenorthern leaf blightexserohilum turcicumpathogen variability18s rdna
spellingShingle Md. Arshad Anwer
Amod Kumar
Md. Mahtab Rashid
Shamsher Ahmad
Md. Abu Nayyer
Mohammad Imran
Md. Reyaz Ahmad
Raj Narain Singh
Elucidating the Pathogen Variability of Northern Leaf Blight of Maize (Zea mays L.) in Bihar, India
Journal of Pure and Applied Microbiology
maize
northern leaf blight
exserohilum turcicum
pathogen variability
18s rdna
title Elucidating the Pathogen Variability of Northern Leaf Blight of Maize (Zea mays L.) in Bihar, India
title_full Elucidating the Pathogen Variability of Northern Leaf Blight of Maize (Zea mays L.) in Bihar, India
title_fullStr Elucidating the Pathogen Variability of Northern Leaf Blight of Maize (Zea mays L.) in Bihar, India
title_full_unstemmed Elucidating the Pathogen Variability of Northern Leaf Blight of Maize (Zea mays L.) in Bihar, India
title_short Elucidating the Pathogen Variability of Northern Leaf Blight of Maize (Zea mays L.) in Bihar, India
title_sort elucidating the pathogen variability of northern leaf blight of maize zea mays l in bihar india
topic maize
northern leaf blight
exserohilum turcicum
pathogen variability
18s rdna
url https://microbiologyjournal.org/elucidating-the-pathogen-variability-of-northern-leaf-blight-of-maize-zea-mays-l-in-bihar-india/
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