DISTRIBUTION OF MONOSPORASCUS ROOT ROT AND VINE DECLINE DISEASE OF CUCURBITS IN EGYPT

El-Desouky,, S. M.; Awad, M. A.; Al-Tuwaijri, Majdah M.Y.

doi:10.21608/jppp.2009.208762

DISTRIBUTION OF MONOSPORASCUS ROOT ROT AND VINE DECLINE DISEASE OF CUCURBITS IN EGYPT

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

¹ Plant Pathology Res. Institute, Agric. Res. Center, 12619 Giza, Egypt

² Agric. Botany Dept., Fac. of Agric., Minufiya Univ, Shibin el-Kom, Egypt

³ Fac. of Applied Sciences for Girls, Umm Al-Qura Univ., Makkah, KSA

10.21608/jppp.2009.208762

Abstract

Root rot and vine decline (MRR/VD) disease of cucurbits caused by Monosporascus cannonballus is one of the recently described diseases in Egypt. The inciting is a soil borne fungus classified as Ascomycetes fungus named Monosporascus cannonballus Pollack and Uecker belonged to order Sordariales, family Sordariacea. Field and in vitro experiments examined the distribution and pathogenicity of M. cannonballus. The disease occurred in Egypt on cultivated cucurbits i.e. cantaloupe (Cucumis melo var. cantulepensis), watermelon (Citrullus lanatus) and cucumber (Cucumis sativus) plants. In three years of disease survey, the disease occurred at 10, 10 and 2 fields of cantaloupe, watermelon and cucumber, respectively during late summer of 2006, 2007 and 2008, which were located at Nubariya (Behaira), Sumosta (Beni Suif), Gamsa (Demietta), Kasassin and Tal El-Kaper (Ismailia), َQueisna and Sadat city (Minufiya), El-Arish (North Sinai), Salhiya and Abu Kabir (Sharkyia)
Disease progression in different tested cucurbits grown in fields at different localities was not observed until the fruit set stage of plant growth, but rapidly increased at the fruit maturity stage (10 to 14 days pre-harvest) resulting yield loss reached more than 50%. The isolation rate of M. cannonballus reached 22.0% from diseased hosts. In in vitro test, diseased seedlings after one to two weeks of inoculation and perithecia were formed in infected roots 21 days later. Also all tested isolates were pathogenic to all tested cucurbit host plants.

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