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Variability and host range of Sclerotinia sclerotiorum in Eastern and North Eastern India

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Abstract

Surveys were conducted during November – February (2015–16 to 2017–18) to collect Sclerotinia sclerotiorum infected plant parts of various hosts from different agro-ecological regions of Assam, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim and West Bengal. Thirty-seven S. sclerotiorum cultures were isolated from the infected plant parts collected from the crop fields with disease incidence ranging from 3.3–20.0%. Rumex scutatus was recorded as a host of the fungus for the first time in the world and five other plant genera were identified as new hosts in India. Phenotypic variability was observed for growth pattern, morphological characteristics, sclerotial characteristics and pathogenic diversity. Isolates varied on the basis of the colony colour of which 83.3% were light-brown to whitish and the rest were brown to black. Majority of the isolates (58.33%) exhibited medium growth rate, whereas, 36.1 and 5.57% were having low and high growth rate, respectively. Nearly, 89% of the isolates belonged to moderate and low sclerotia forming groups. Almost 44.4, 38.9 and 16.7% of the isolates belonged to less, moderately and highly aggressive groups, respectively. Growth rate and biomass conjointly explained 42.0% of the variation in the virulence of the isolates. Further, pectinase and oxalic acid production could explain 54.9% of the variation in the virulence of the isolates. Eleven MCGs were identified and isolates with similar aggressiveness mostly belonged to the same group. S. sclerotiorum isolates exhibited significant variations in morphological, cultural, biochemical and pathogenic variability with potential to emerge as an important pathogen in the eastern and north eastern region of the country.

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Acknowledgements

We acknowledge with appreciation for receiving the culture accession for the 37 S. sclerotiorum isolates from National Agriculturally Important Microbial Culture Collection (NAIMCC) of ICAR National Bureau of Agriculturally Important Microorganisms, Mau NathBhanjan, Uttar Pradesh.

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Correspondence to Subrata Dutta.

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Borah, T.R., Dutta, S., Barman, A.R. et al. Variability and host range of Sclerotinia sclerotiorum in Eastern and North Eastern India. J Plant Pathol 103, 809–822 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s42161-021-00815-3

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