Pyricularia pennisetigena and P. zingibericola from invasive grasses infect signal grass, barley and wheat

Abstract

Fungal species from the Pyricularia genus are associated with blast disease in plants from the Poaceae family, causing losses in economically important crops such as rice, oat, rye, barley, wheat and triticale. This study aimed at characterizing the pathogenicity spectrum of P. pennisetigena and P. zingibericola to signal grass, barley and wheat, as well as comparing them with those from the species P. grisea and P. oryzae pathotype Triticum, which occur widely in the Brazilian agroecosystem. Twenty isolates of Pyricularia spp. were obtained from infected leaf samples of invasive plant species from wheat fields. The isolates classification into distinct Pyricularia species was done using molecular phylogeny based on actin and calmodulin genes. Pyricularia pennisetigena and P. zingibericola inoculated on plant leaves, at a concentration adjusted to 10⁵ conidia mL^-1, were pathogenic to signal grass, barley and wheat, with varying levels of aggressiveness.