Identification of a New Race of Sporisorium reilianum and Characterization of the Reaction of Sorghum Lines to Four Races of the Head Smut Pathogen |
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Authors: | Fuyao Zhang Junai Ping Zhihong Du Qingjun Cheng Yinghua Huang |
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Institution: | 1. Authors’ addresses: Sorghum Institute of Shanxi Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Yuci 030600, China;2. USDA‐ARS Plant Science Research Laboratory, Stillwater, OK 74075, USA;3. Department of Botany, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, OK 74078, USA (correspondence to F. Zhang. E‐mail: zfy5607@163.com or to Y. Huang. E‐mail: Yinghua.Huang@ars.usda.gov) |
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Abstract: | Sporisorium reilianum is the causal agent of head smut on sorghum and maize. In order to effectively utilize host resistance to control this important disease in crops, it is necessary to monitor changes in disease dynamics and virulence of the pathogen. An outbreak of head smut was recently observed in a sorghum field, near Gaoping, Shanxi, China, and research was undertaken to characterize a putative new race of S. reilianum. A set of differential sorghum lines with resistance to several conventional races was used to characterize the newly collected isolate of S. reilianum. The reactions of differential cultivars/germplasm lines to the new isolate indicate that it is a new physiological race of S. reilianum. The new race is highly virulent on sorghum line A2V4 and its hybrid, Jinza 12, that are known as resistant to all existing Chinese races of S. reilianum, including races 1, 2, and 3. The new isolate of S. reilianum is different from all of the described races of the pathogen; thus, it is designated as race 4 of S. reilianum. Furthermore, a collection of 34 sorghum genotypes including commercial cultivars and germplasm lines was evaluated for disease reaction to the newly described race and the three known races of the pathogen. |
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Keywords: | head smut host– pathogen interaction physiological race plant disease resistance Sorghum bicolor |
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