Identification of Leptoxyphium sp. causing sooty mold on coconut
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Identification of Leptoxyphium sp. causing sooty mold on coconut Daliyamol1 · Merin Babu2 · A. Josephrajkumar2 · Vinayaka Hegde1 Received: 18 September 2019 / Revised: 1 October 2020 / Accepted: 10 November 2020 © Indian Phytopathological Society 2020
Abstract All through the occurrence of Rugose spiraling whitefly (Aleurodicus rugioperculatus Martin) infestation in coconut gardens from ICAR-CPCRI, Kayamkulam Regional station, Kerala that commenced during late 2017, a close association of a sooty mould fungus, with the insect feeding was found that was responsible for the cosmetic damage on palm leaflets as well as intercrops grown within the coconut gardens. The fungus was isolated and studied the morphological and molecular character for identification. The vegetative hyphae consist of cylindrical shaped cells having constrictions at the septum and a thick mucilaginous layer covering the cells. The long synnemata originates from the vegetative hyphae which has a bulbous base and funnel-shaped conidiomata at the apex. Conidiomata contains innumerous single celled round to oval shaped conidia. Based on the morphological studies and molecular characterization of the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region of rDNA, the fungus was identified as Leptoxyphium sp., a sooty mold not previously reported from coconut gardens. A classical association of a Leiochrinid beetle devouring sooty mold fungus from palm leaflets was also observed. Keywords Coconut · Sooty mold · Hyphae · Synnemata · Conidiomata The coconut palm (Cocos nucifera L.), is an erect monocot palm with multifaceted utilities to mankind and of late, its use as health drink is becoming more popular. Coconut is widely cultivated in more than 90 countries with an area of more than 10 million hectares, with Indonesia as the largest coconut producing country. In India, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Goa, Maharashtra, Odisha, West Bengal and Assam are the major coconut producing states (Sangamithra et al. 2013). There are many pests and diseases associated with coconut reported so far affecting its nut yield potential. Among them, attack of rhinoceros beetle, red palm weevil, black headed caterpillar, eriophyid mite and coreid bug are the most important ones causing economic damage to palms (Josephrajkumar et al. 2018). In the late 2016, there was a sudden outburst of an invasive pest, Rugose Spiraling Whitefly (Aleurodicus rugioperculatus Martin) (RSW) in the coconut gardens from Pollachi,
* Daliyamol [email protected] 1
ICAR-Central Plantation Crops Research Institute, Kasaragod, Kerala 671 124, India
ICAR-Central Plantation Crops Research Institute, Regional Station, Alappuzha District, Kayamkulam, Kerala 690 533, India
2
Tamil Nadu and Palakkad, Kerala which were extensively found on the abaxial surface with substantial amount of feeding (Josephrajkumar et al. 2016; Mohan et al. 2016; Shanas et al. 2016; Selvaraj et al. 2017). Although the economic loss due to whitefly feeding on coconut is negligible, the hug
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