Title: First record of powdery mildew on <i>Homalocladium platycladum</i> in the Czech Republic
Abstract: Homalocladium platycladum (syn. Muehlenbeckia platyclada; tapeworm plant or ribbonbush) has a worldwide distribution as an ornamental plant and in tropical regions is used in parks and as a hedge plant (Hanelt et al., 2001); in Europe it is used mostly as a pot plant. Beginning in March 2005 in greenhouses ('Fata Morgana') of the Botanical Garden of Prague (Prague-Troja), powdery mildew symptoms on H. platycladum were observed and were observable periodically thereafter. Symptoms were white irregular colonies on the upper and lower surfaces of leaves; stems were symptomless. To observe powdery mildew morphology, fuchsin staining was used (Shin, 2000). Mycelium was white, superficial, branched, with hyphae 5–6·5 µm in diameter; conidia were cylindrical, lacking fibrosin bodies, length 31·72–51·24 µm (mean 39·97 µm), width 10·98–15·86 µm (mean 13·39 µm), shape index 2·16–4·2 (mean 3·00), with germ tube arising from the end of the conidium, often broadened at its apex and the appressoria appearing slightly-lobed to lobed. Conidiophores were erect, with foot-cells followed by 2–3 distal cells; conidia were formed singly (pseudoidium type). The teleomorph was not observed. Voucher specimens were deposited in the Department of Botany collection at Palacký University in Olomouc, Czech Republic. The anamorph was identified as Oidium subgen. Pseudoidium, imperfect state of the genus Erysiphe. Braun (1995) reported only one species of Erysiphe on members of the Polygonaceae, namely Erysiphe polygoni. This powdery mildew has a wide distribution in Europe, Asia, Africa, North and South America and has been reported on H. platycladum in Finland, Romania, UK and the former Soviet Union (Braun, 1995). The authors thank Prof. H.D. Shin for valuable comments on the first draft of this manuscript. This research was supported by grant MSM 619 895 9215 (Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports of the Czech Republic).
Publication Year: 2007
Publication Date: 2007-07-23
Language: en
Type: article
Indexed In: ['crossref']
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Cited By Count: 2
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