Sugar beet is an economically important crop which is contributing 55% of the total sugar in the USA. In June 2018, irregular dark brown somewhat circular spots were observed on sugar beet leaves in Hickson, North Dakota. The symptoms covered approximately 5% on the lower leaves. Symptomatic leaf tissue were excised from the junction of diseased and healthy tissue. Small pieces (5 mm²) were surface sterilized with 10% sodium hypochlorite for 1 min, rinsed thrice with sterile distilled water, air dried and transferred to Potato Dextrose Agar (PDA), and incubated at 24°C with a 12-h photoperiod for 5 days. Dark-green velvety colony appeared in two weeks. Three isolates were developed by the single spore isolation technique. Conidia were club-shaped, two to four transverse septa, and pale brown, without any beak, often in chains (4 to 8 conidia) and or solitary. The dimension of conidia varied from 25-40x7-14 μm [1,2]. Based on the morphological characters, the fungus was tentatively identified as Alternaria species. Genomic Deoxyribonucleic Acids (gDNAs) were extracted from the culture generated from a single spore using Qiagen kit. ITS4/ITS5 were used to amplify the fragments of the Internal Transcribed Spacer (ITS) region. The amplified PCR products were cleaned and sent for Sanger sequencing by GenScript (GenScript, Piscataway, NJ). The sequences from GenScript were congruence to the reference sequence ID MT126620.1. The entire sequences were deposited at NCBI (GenBank accession nos. MK441717). Koch postulates were followed by spraying conidia suspension (5×105 conidia/ml) to 8-week age of 20 plants of and kept in humidity chamber at 28-30 °C, 80-85 % RH. Mock-inoculated seeds were also sown as a control. Three weeks of post inoculation, the similar irregular dark brown symptoms observed in twelve plants. No symptoms were found in the mock. The experiment was conducted twice. The fungus was reisolated from the diseased leaf tissue, as described above. Macroscopic and microscopic analysis indicated the similar dark-green colony and morphology, respectively. Molecular detection performed using the same ITS primers and sent for Sanger sequencing by GenScript, this study further confirmed that the isolate was similar to A. alternata [3]. Another close species of Alternaria was recently reported in sugar beet to cause leaf spot in Minnesota [4,5]. To our best knowledge, this is the first report of A. alternata causing leaf spot on sugar beet in North Dakota.

genes (DEGs) were identified between sclerotia and mycelia stage. Among the highly upregulated genes that encode enzymes or proteins were included cytochrome c oxidase, cytochrome c peroxidase, superoxide dismutase (SOD), cytochrome P450, oxidoreductase, signal peptidase complex, apoptosis-inducing factors, NADPH oxidase, chitinases, serine/threonine kinases, programmed cell death proteins, Transcription elongation factor 1-beta, subtilisin-like protease 8, poly-ubiquitin-A, glutathione peroxidase, phosphatidylserine decarboxylases, and hypothetical proteins identified in the transcriptome of sclerotia and mycelia. Moreover, gene ontology (GO) and kyoto encyclopedia of genes and genomes (KEGG) analyses showed that these DEGs were enriched in diverse categories, including oxidoreductase activity, carbohydrate metabolic process, and oxidation-reduction processes.

The soil-borne fungus Rhizoctonia solani causes damping-off on sugar beet seedlings. Growers rely on fungicides to protect sugar beet in fields affected by R. solani. Quinone outside inhibitor (QoI) fungicides, such as azoxystrobin, have been applied as in-furrow and foliar sprays to manage R. solani, but repeated use of QoI fungicides pose risks in fungicide resistance. Penthiopyrad is a novel fungicide with the succinate dehydrogenase inhibitor (SDHI) mode of action. The objectives of this study were to compare the efficacy of penthiopyrad used as a sole seed treatment versus azoxystrobin as an in-furrow or a post-planting application for controlling R. solani; to determine if a penthiopyrad seed treatment combined with azoxystrobin as a post-planting application can improve control of R. solani over sole penthiopyrad seed treatment, azoxystrobin in-furrow or post-planting spray application. Seedling survival rate and area under disease progress curve (AUDPC) for seedling loss rate were used to measure the efficacy of each treatment. A sole penthiopyrad seed treatment at 14 g a. i. kg(-1) of seeds, and penthiopyrad seed treatments at 7 and 14 g a. i. kg(-1) of seeds combined with one azoxystrobin in-furrow application 14 days after planting resulted in similar seedling survival rate and AUDPC as achieved with the standard azoxystrobin in-furrow application. However, post-planting foliar spray of azoxystrobin alone failed to control seedling damping-off. Our research suggests that penthiopyrad can be used as a seed treatment to provide early protection to vulnerable seedlings while azoxystrobin can be used as a post-planting application to protect the ensuing adult plants.

In August 2018, sugar beet roots with dark brown to blue lesions was observed (5% incidence) in Moorhead, Minnesota (46.8738° N, 96.7678° W). Infected sugar beet roots were collected and stored in a cold room at 8 ±2°C, …

New Disease ReportsVolume 42, Issue 1 p. 21-21 THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN RETRACTEDOpen Access Retracted: First report of Clonostachys rosea causing root rot of Beta vulgaris in North Dakota, USA Retraction(s) for this article Retraction: First report of Clonostachys rosea causing root rot of Beta vulgaris in North Dakota, USA Volume 43Issue 2New Disease Reports First Published online: June 17, 2021 M.E. Haque, Corresponding Author M.E. Haque mdehsanul.haque@ndus.edu Department of Plant Pathology, North Dakota State University, Fargo, North Dakota, 58108 USA University of North Dakota, Grand Forks, 58203Search for more papers by this authorM.S. Parvin, M.S. Parvin Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute, Joydebpur, Gazipur, 1701 Bangladesh Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Universität Hannover, GermanySearch for more papers by this author M.E. Haque, Corresponding Author M.E. Haque mdehsanul.haque@ndus.edu Department of Plant Pathology, North Dakota State University, Fargo, North Dakota, 58108 USA University of North Dakota, Grand Forks, 58203Search for more papers by this authorM.S. Parvin, M.S. Parvin Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute, Joydebpur, Gazipur, 1701 Bangladesh Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Universität Hannover, GermanySearch for more papers by this author First published: 11 December 2020 https://doi.org/10.5197/j.2044-0588.2020.042.021AboutSectionsPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditWechat In August 2018, sugar beet plants with dull green and chlorotic foliage were observed in Hickson (46.6694°N, 96.8104°W), North Dakota. The taproots were found to have several circular brown to black necrotic lesions (Fig. 1) and the disease incidence was about 5%. Figure 1Open in figure viewerPowerPoint Beet roots were washed to remove soil particles, surface-sterilised in a 10% NaOCl solution for 1 minute, and dipped twice in sterile water. Isolations were done on potato dextrose agar (72 hr at 25 ±2°C). All colonies were white and the surface was feathery (Fig. 2). Ten isolates were examined and these consistently had verticillate and penicillate conidiophores (primary and secondary) similar to those illustrated by Afshari & Hemmati (1). Conidia were 6.2 to 9.5 μm × 5.9 to 8.9 μm (Fig. 3). Five pure cultures were prepared by single spore isolation. The morphology of isolates was consistent with Clonostachys rosea (Moreira et al., 3; Sun et al., 5). DNA was extracted from four isolates using a Norgen Biotek Corp. protocol (Canada, Cat.27300). Isolates were confirmed via sequencing (GenScript, Piscataway, USA) using the internal transcribed spacer (ITS1F/ITS4). A BLAST search demonstrated that the 539 bp sequence was 100% identical to C. rosea (GenBank Accession No. KM519669.1). An annotated DNA sequence was deposited into GenBank as MN186772.1. Figure 2Open in figure viewerPowerPoint Figure 3Open in figure viewerPowerPoint Greenhouse pathogenicity tests were undertaken on sugar beet using the sequenced isolate. Three-week-old C. rosea cultures were mixed with vermiculite and perlite mixer (PRO-MIX FLX, USA) in plastic trays (61 ×38 × 25 cm). For the control treatment no inoculum was added. Sterile water (500 ml/ tray) was added to the mixer to maintain sufficient moisture. Ten seeds of sugar beet cv. Crystal 101 were sown per tray, and the trays replicated thrice with inoculated and control treatments and maintained at 22°C, 75% relative humidity. Plants were watered as needed to maintain adequate soil moisture conducive for plant growth and disease development. After eight weeks, plants were harvested and root rot assessed. Taproots of 16 of the 30 inoculated plants had similar root rot symptoms as described previously (Fig. 4). No disease was observed in control plants. Clonostachys rosea was consistently reisolated from the diseased taproots and its identity confirmed using morphological and molecular methods, thus fulfilling Koch's postulates. Figure 4Open in figure viewerPowerPoint Clonostachys rosea has been reported commonly as a mycoparasite or saprotrophic species from soil and various plant materials (Schroers et al., 4). However, there are a few reports of C. rosea causing root rots in soybean in Minnesota (Bienapfl et al., 2) and in faba bean in Iran (Afshari & Hemmati, 2017). To our best knowledge, this is the first report of C. rosea causing root rot of sugar beet in the USA, or worldwide. Acknowledgements The authors are thankful to Dr. R. Reeder for his suggestions and technical support. References 1Afshari N, Hemmati R, 2017. First report of the occurrence and pathogenicity of Clonostachys rosea on faba bean. Australasian Plant Pathology 46, 231– 234. http://doi.org/10.1007/s13313-017-0482-3 2Bienapfl JC, Floyd CM, Percich JA, Malvick DK, 2012. First report of Clonostachys rosea causing root rot of soybean in the United States. Plant Disease 96, 1700. http://doi.org/10.1094/PDIS-06-12-0550-PDN 3Moreira GM, Abreu LM, Carvalho VG, Schroers H-J, Pfenning LH, 2016. Multilocus phylogeny of Clonostachys subgenus Bionectria from Brazil and description of Clonostachys chloroleuca sp nov. Mycological Progress 15, 1031– 1039. http://doi.org/10.1007/s11557-016-1224-6 4Schroers H-J, Samuels GJ, Seifert KA, Gams W, 1999. Classification of the mycoparasite Gliocladium roseum in Clonostachys as C. rosea, its relationship to Bionectria ochroleuca, and notes on other Gliocladium-like fungi. Mycologia 91, 365– 385. http://doi.org/10.1080/00275514.1999.12061028 5Sun ZB, Li SD, Ren Q, Xu JL, Lu X, Sun MH, 2020. Biology and applications of Clonostachys rosea. Journal of Applied Microbiology 129, 486– 495. http://doi.org/10.1111/jam.14625 Volume42, Issue1July 2020-December 2020Pages 21-21 FiguresReferencesRelatedInformation

Sugar beet (Beta vulgaris L.) is a globally important crop for sugar. In May 2019, sugar beet seedlings were observed with wilting, lodging and a few were dead in Glendive (46.970170, -104.838204), Montana. Symptoms appeared near the soil line as the stem (hypocotyl) turned dark brown to black with characteristic thread-like infections which resembled Pythium damping-off. It affected approximately 10% of the growing seedlings. Diseased sugar beet root tissues were excised with a sterile scalpel and small pieces (10 mm²) were surface sterilized with 70 % ethanol for 30 seconds, rinsed twice with autoclaved water, air-dried and transferred to potato dextrose agar (PDA) media amended with pimaricin-vancomycin-PCNB (Conway, 1985). Four plates were incubated at 25° C in the dark (Masago et al., 1977) and two weeks later white, dense colony was observed (Zhang et al., 2018). The terminal smooth, globose oogonia (average 18.5 µm in diameter) and antheridia (average 14.5 × 9.5 µm) extended below the oogonium were observed via VWR N. A. 0.30 microscope. The morphological features of the four isolates were consistent with Pythium ultimum Trow (Watanabe, 2002). Genomic DNAs (NORGEN BIOTEK CORP, Fungi DNA Isolation Kit #26200) of four isolates were used for polymerase chain reaction (PCR) with the ITS6-ITS7 primers (Taheri et al., 2017). Subsequently, PCR products were flushed by E.Z.N.A ®Cycle Pure Kit, OMEGA and four samples were sent for Sanger sequencing to GenScript (GenScript, Piscataway, NJ). The sequences were identical and submitted to GenBank, NCBI (accession no. MN398593). The NCBI Blast analysis showed 100% sequence homology to Pythium ultimum with the following GenBank accessions; KF181451.1, KF181449.1 and AY598657.2. Pathogenicity test was done on sugar beet with the same isolates in the greenhouse. Two week old, pythium culture was mixed with vermiculite and perlite mixer (PRO-MIX FLX) in the plastic trays (24´´ x 15´´× 3˝), (22 °C, 75% Relaive Humidity). Sterile water (500 ml/each tray) was added in the mixer to provide sufficient moisture. Twenty seeds of cv. Hilleshog 4302 were sown in the tray, and the trays were replicated thrice with inoculated and mock treatments. Plants were watered as needed to maintain adequate soil moisture conducive for plant growth and disease development. Seven days after sowing, 50% and 100% germination was observed in the inoculated and control treatments, respectively. At the beginning of the second week, 30% post-emergence damping-off was observed in the inoculated treatments. Diseased seedlings were gently pulled out from the pots where similar symptoms were observed in the sugar beet seedlings as described previously. No incidence of disease was observed in mock-treated seedlings. Consistent reisolation of Pythium ultimum was morphologically and molecularly confirmed from the diseased seedlings, thus fulfilling Koch's postulates. Pythium spp identification is prerequisite to develop effective management of pre and post-emergence damping-off. Pythium ultimum was previously reported in Nebraska to cause sugar beet seed rot and pre-emergence damping-off (Harvenson 2006). To our knowledge, this is the first report of Pythium ultimum causing damping-off on sugar beet in the Sidney factory district in Montana.

HomePlant DiseaseVol. 104, No. 2First Report of Alternaria Leaf Spot Caused by Alternaria tenuissima on Sugar Beet (Beta vulgaris) in Minnesota, U.S.A. PreviousNext DISEASE NOTES OPENOpen Access licenseFirst Report of Alternaria Leaf Spot Caused by Alternaria tenuissima on Sugar Beet (Beta vulgaris) in Minnesota, U.S.A.M. F. R. Khan, M. E. Haque, M. Bloomquist, M. Z. R. Bhuiyan, R. Brueggeman, S. Zhong, R. Sharma Poudel, T. Gross, P. Hakk, Y. Leng, and Y. LiuM. F. R. Khan†Corresponding author: M. F. R. Khan; E-mail Address: mohamed.khan@ndsu.eduhttp://orcid.org/0000-0001-5294-8651Department of Plant Pathology, North Dakota State University, Fargo, ND 58108Department of Plant Pathology, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN 55108 , M. E. HaqueDepartment of Plant Pathology, North Dakota State University, Fargo, ND 58108, M. BloomquistSouthern Minnesota Beet Sugar Cooperative, Renville, MN 56284, M. Z. R. BhuiyanDepartment of Plant Pathology, North Dakota State University, Fargo, ND 58108, R. BrueggemanDepartment of Plant Pathology, North Dakota State University, Fargo, ND 58108, S. Zhonghttp://orcid.org/0000-0003-1928-0877Department of Plant Pathology, North Dakota State University, Fargo, ND 58108, R. Sharma PoudelDepartment of Plant Pathology, North Dakota State University, Fargo, ND 58108, T. GrossDepartment of Plant Pathology, North Dakota State University, Fargo, ND 58108, P. HakkDepartment of Plant Pathology, North Dakota State University, Fargo, ND 58108, Y. LengDepartment of Plant Pathology, North Dakota State University, Fargo, ND 58108, and Y. LiuDepartment of Plant Pathology, North Dakota State University, Fargo, ND 58108 AffiliationsAuthors and Affiliations M. F. R. Khan1 2 † M. E. Haque1 M. Bloomquist3 M. Z. R. Bhuiyan1 R. Brueggeman1 S. Zhong1 R. Sharma Poudel1 T. Gross1 P. Hakk1 Y. Leng1 Y. Liu1 1Department of Plant Pathology, North Dakota State University, Fargo, ND 58108 2Department of Plant Pathology, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN 55108 3Southern Minnesota Beet Sugar Cooperative, Renville, MN 56284 Published Online:9 Dec 2019https://doi.org/10.1094/PDIS-03-19-0603-PDNAboutSections ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack Citations ShareShare onFacebookTwitterLinked InRedditEmailWechat Minnesota is the top sugar beet (Beta vulgaris L.) producing state in the United States. In September 2018, foliar symptoms were first observed on older sugar beet leaves in about 3% of the cultivars in a coded variety trial in Renville (N 44.78, W –95.15), Minnesota. Symptoms were dark brown circular or irregular spots on healthy plants. Initially, the lesions were confined within distinct parallel veins of the leaves but eventually expanded and coalesced across veins. In severely affected plants, the entire symptomatic leaves died. Small square pieces (5 mm2) from the margin of lesions were excised with a sterile scalpel, surface sterilized with 70% ethanol for 1 min, rinsed thrice with sterile distilled water, air dried, transferred to potato dextrose agar, and incubated at 25°C with a 12-h photoperiod for 7 days. A colony that had white-brown velvety mycelia grew on the medium. Suspect isolates were further purified using a single-spore isolation method (Choi et al. 1999). Isolates were the same morphologically. Conidia were club-shaped, four to seven transverse septa, one to three longitudinal septa, and pale brown, with a beak-like apical cell, often in long chains or solitary. Conidia dimensions were 28 to 54 × 4.5 to 6 µm, and beaks when present were 2 to 4 µm (Kou et al. 2014). Based on the morphological characters, the fungus was tentatively identified as Alternaria species (Simmons 2007; Woudenberg et al. 2015). Fungal genomic DNA was extracted from two representative isolates using a Qiagen kit followed by PCR amplification with internal transcribed spacer (ITS) ITS 1/ITS 4 primers. The amplified PCR products were cleaned and sent for Sanger sequencing by GenScript (Piscataway, NJ). Isolates 1422F (GenBank accession MK611645) and 1424F (MK611649) had 98 and 100% sequence identity with Alternaria tenuissima (GenBank accessions MF373440 and MH374277), respectively (Ziedan et al. 2018). Pathogenicity testing was conducted by spraying a conidial suspension (5 × 105 conidia/ml) onto 14-leaf growth stage sugar beet plants (Crystal Beet Seed proprietary material). Mock-inoculated plants were sprayed with autoclaved water as a control. Plants were kept at 25°C and 75 to 85% relative humidity in a humidity chamber for 7 days and then transferred to a greenhouse kept at 23 ± 2°C and a 12-h photoperiod. Plants were watered daily. The experiment was done twice with four replicates and 10 plants per replicate. Two weeks postinoculation, about 30% of the inoculated leaves were infected and started to display irregular to circular lesions as observed in the field. No symptoms were observed on the control plants. The fungus was reisolated from diseased leaf tissues as described above, and macroscopic and microscopic analysis indicated the similar white-brown colony morphology and conidial structure, respectively. Genomic DNA was extracted from a single isolate as described above. Molecular detection performed using the same primers further confirmed that the isolate (MN384262) was 100% similar to A. tenuissima (GenBank accession MK611651). A. tenuissima has the potential to become a problem if susceptible varieties are grown over large production areas. Alternaria leaf spot on sugar beet has been reported in California (French 1989) and Michigan (Rosenzweig et al. 2019), where the disease has been associated with economic loss since 2015. To our knowledge, this is the first report of A. tenuissima causing leaf spot disease on sugar beet in Minnesota, U.S.A.The author(s) declare no conflict of interest.References:Choi, Y. W., et al. 1999. Fungal Diversity 3:29. https://www.fungaldiversity.org/fdp/sfdp/FD_3_29-38.pdf Google ScholarFrench, A. M. 1989. California Plant Disease Host Index. Department of Food and Agriculture, Sacramento, CA. Google ScholarKou, L. P., et al. 2014. Plant Dis. 98:690. https://doi.org/10.1094/PDIS-07-13-0802-PDN Abstract, Google ScholarRosenzweig, N., et al. 2019. Plant Dis. 103:2263. https://doi.org/10.1094/PDIS-12-18-2282-RE Link, ISI, Google ScholarSimmons, E. G. 2007. Alternaria: An Identification Manual. CBS Biodiversity Center, Utrecht, The Netherlands. Google ScholarWoudenberg, J. H. C., et al. 2015. Stud. Mycol. 82:1. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.simyco.2015.07.001 Crossref, ISI, Google ScholarZiedan, E. S. H., et al. 2018. J. Plant Prot. Res. 58:362. https://doi.org/10.24425/jppr.2018.124650 Google ScholarThe author(s) declare no conflict of interest.Funding: Funding was provided by Sugarbeet Research and Education Board of Minnesota and North Dakota.DetailsFiguresLiterature CitedRelated Vol. 104, No. 2 February 2020SubscribeISSN:0191-2917e-ISSN:1943-7692 DownloadCaptionSymptom of maize ear rot caused by Fusarium sporotrichioides (B. B. Wang et al.). Photo credit: C. X. Duan. Systemic symptoms of alfalfa mosaic virus (AMV) isolate CaM on leaves of potato (X. Z. Nie et al.). Photo credit: X. Z. Nie. Metrics Downloaded 3,551 times Article History Issue Date: 31 Jan 2020Published: 9 Dec 2019First Look: 3 Oct 2019Accepted: 30 Sep 2019 Pages: 580-580 Information© 2020 The American Phytopathological SocietyFundingSugarbeet Research and Education Board of Minnesota and North DakotaKeywordsfungivegetablesdisease managementcultivar/resistancepathogen detectionThe author(s) declare no conflict of interest.

HomePlant DiseaseVol. 103, No. 12First Report of Geotrichum candidum Causing Postharvest Rot of Sugar Beet (Beta vulgaris) Roots in Minnesota and North Dakota PreviousNext DISEASE NOTES OPENOpen Access licenseFirst Report of Geotrichum candidum Causing Postharvest Rot of Sugar Beet (Beta vulgaris) Roots in Minnesota and North DakotaM. F. R. Khan, M. E. Haque, R. Brueggeman, S. Zhong, M. Z. R. Bhuiyan, R. S. Poudel, T. Gross, P. Hakk, and Y. LiuM. F. R. Khan†Corresponding author: M. F. R. Khan; E-mail Address: Mohamed.khan@ndsu.eduhttp://orcid.org/0000-0001-5294-8651Department of Plant Pathology, North Dakota State University, Fargo, ND 58108Department of Plant Pathology, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN 55108Search for more papers by this author, M. E. HaqueDepartment of Plant Pathology, North Dakota State University, Fargo, ND 58108Search for more papers by this author, R. BrueggemanDepartment of Plant Pathology, North Dakota State University, Fargo, ND 58108Search for more papers by this author, S. Zhonghttp://orcid.org/0000-0003-1928-0877Department of Plant Pathology, North Dakota State University, Fargo, ND 58108Search for more papers by this author, M. Z. R. BhuiyanDepartment of Plant Pathology, North Dakota State University, Fargo, ND 58108Search for more papers by this author, R. S. PoudelDepartment of Plant Pathology, North Dakota State University, Fargo, ND 58108Search for more papers by this author, T. GrossDepartment of Plant Pathology, North Dakota State University, Fargo, ND 58108Search for more papers by this author, P. HakkDepartment of Plant Pathology, North Dakota State University, Fargo, ND 58108Search for more papers by this author, and Y. LiuDepartment of Plant Pathology, North Dakota State University, Fargo, ND 58108Search for more papers by this authorAffiliationsAuthors and Affiliations M. F. R. Khan1 2 † M. E. Haque1 R. Brueggeman1 S. Zhong1 M. Z. R. Bhuiyan1 R. S. Poudel1 T. Gross1 P. Hakk1 Y. Liu1 1Department of Plant Pathology, North Dakota State University, Fargo, ND 58108 2Department of Plant Pathology, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN 55108 Published Online:14 Oct 2019https://doi.org/10.1094/PDIS-05-19-1000-PDNAboutSections ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack Citations ShareShare onFacebookTwitterLinked InRedditEmailWechat Minnesota (MN) and North Dakota (ND) together produce about 57% of U.S. sugar beets (Beta vulgaris L.) for sucrose extraction from its tap root. In October 2018, healthy sugar beet roots were harvested from two major production areas, Grand Forks, ND, and near Foxhome, MN, and kept in storage at 8°C and 80% relative humidity. After 1 week, water-soaked soft rot with brown irregular lesions 10 to 50 mm in diameter and thick foamy white mycelial growth were observed on the sugar beet roots, along with a smell of fermentation. About 10% of the roots from Grand Forks, ND, and 5% of the roots from Foxhome, MN, had symptoms that covered approximately 30% of the root surface. Small pieces (10 mm2) of lesion margins were excised, surface sterilized with 10% sodium hypochlorite for 1 min, rinsed twice with sterile distilled water, air dried, and transferred to corn meal agar (CMA) and clarified V8 and incubated at 25°C with a 12-h photoperiod for 7 days. Colonies were white, thin, flat, and feathery on both media. Hyphae were dichotomously branched and septate. Conidia were arthrosporous, terminal or intercalary, hyaline, subglobose, one-celled, often in chains and/or solitary. The dimension of conidia varied from 5 to 12 × 2 to 5 µm (Watanabe 2002). Based on cultural and morphological characteristics, the fungus was tentatively identified as Geotrichum species. Genomic DNA was extracted (Norgen Biotek Corp., cat. no. 27300) from eight isolates: four isolates each from ND and MN. The isolates from each state were identical. To confirm the identity of the fungus, the universal internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region was amplified using the ITS1/ITS4 primers (White et al. 1990). The amplified PCR products were cleaned and sent for Sanger sequencing to GenScript. The sequences for the ITS-5.8S rDNA region for the ND (GenBank accession MK436200) isolates had 99% sequence identity with G. candidum accessions JQ668739, KY103456, and KR815826. For the same genetic region, the MN (MK436203) isolates had 99% sequence identity with G. candidum accessions KF112070 and LC054542. In comparison with the G. candidum type strain CBS 178.71 (KF984491), the ND and MN isolates had 95 and 91% sequence identity, respectively. Pathogenicity was confirmed in the greenhouse. Twelve 20-week-old healthy sugar beet (cv. Crystal 101) roots were surface sterilized and scraped with a sterile cork borer, followed by plugging the wound (5 mm2) with 7-day-old G. candidum on CMA. Mock-inoculated sugar beet roots (12) were used as a control. All the roots were kept at 25°C and 80% relative humidity. One week postinoculation, all inoculated sugar beet roots had the same symptoms as the field-infected roots. No symptoms were observed in the mock treatment. The fungus reisolated from the diseased beet root had identical cultural and morphological characteristics to G. candidum. There are several reports of G. candidum as the causal agent for rot of fruits, including Mori fructus and peach, as well as storage rots of sweet potato (Alam et al. 2017; Holmes et al. 2002; Zhang et al. 2018). Root rot of sugar beet caused by Geotrichum sp. F373 was reported for roots collected from Oregon and Idaho (Strausbaugh et al. 2009). To our knowledge, this is the first report of G. candidum causing rot on sugar beet root in storage in ND and MN, U.S.A. Because roots may be stored for about 4 to 5 months in nonventilated piles before processing, it will be useful to investigate and develop strategies to limit losses that could be caused by G. candidum.The author(s) declare no conflict of interest.References:Alam, M. W., et al. 2017. Plant Dis. 101:1543. https://doi.org/10.1094/PDIS-01-17-0121-PDN Abstract, Google ScholarHolmes, G. J., et al. 2002. Plant Dis. 86:695. https://doi.org/10.1094/PDIS.2002.86.6.695C Link, Google ScholarStrausbaugh, C. A., et al. 2009. Can. J. Plant Pathol. 31:232. https://doi.org/10.1080/07060660909507596 Crossref, ISI, Google ScholarWatanabe, T. 2002. Page 278 in Pictorial Atlas of Soil and Seed Fungi: Morphologies of Cultured Fungi and Keys to Species, 2nd Ed. CRC Press, Boca Raton, FL. Crossref, Google ScholarWhite, T. J., et al. 1990. Page 315 in: PCR Protocols: A Guide to Methods and Applications. Academic Press, San Diego, CA. Crossref, Google ScholarZhang, L., et al. 2018. Plant Dis. 102:2640. https://doi.org/10.1094/PDIS-03-18-0536-PDN Link, Google ScholarThe author(s) declare no conflict of interest.DetailsFiguresLiterature CitedRelated Vol. 103, No. 12 December 2019SubscribeISSN:0191-2917e-ISSN:1943-7692 DownloadCaptionChlorotic symptom of Paris polyphylla var. yunnanensis infected by PMMoV-QJ (Wen et al.). Photo credit: M. F. Zhao. Symptoms of Puccinia triticina on wheat (Brar et al.). Photo credit: G. S. Brar. Metrics Article History Issue Date: 21 Nov 2019Published: 14 Oct 2019First Look: 5 Aug 2019Accepted: 2 Aug 2019 Pages: 3278-3278 Information© 2019 The American Phytopathological SocietyKeywordsfungivegetablesdisease managementpathogen detectionThe author(s) declare no conflict of interest.Cited byFirst Report of Geotrichum candidum Causing Postharvest Sour Rot on Kiwifruits in ChinaHao Cheng, Wei Tang, Hanyang Wang, Qianwen Liu, Huanhuan Li, and Yongsheng Liu7 April 2021 | Plant Disease, Vol. 105, No. 5Konya İlinde Yetiştirilen Patates Yumrularında Lastik Çürüklük Hastalık Etmeni Geotrichum candidum’un İzolasyonu, Morfolojik ve Moleküler Karakterizasyonu13 August 2020 | Kahramanmaraş Sütçü İmam Üniversitesi Tarım ve Doğa DergisiRetracted : First report of Talaromyces pinophilus causing postharvest rot of sugar beet ( Beta vulgaris ) in Minnesota, USA12 November 2020 | New Disease Reports, Vol. 42, No. 1

HomePlant DiseaseVol. 104, No. 4First Report of Sclerotinia sclerotiorum Causing Leaf Blight in Sugar Beet (Beta vulgaris) in North Dakota, U.S.A. PreviousNext DISEASE NOTES OPENOpen Access licenseFirst Report of Sclerotinia sclerotiorum Causing Leaf Blight in Sugar Beet (Beta vulgaris) in North Dakota, U.S.A.M. F. R. Khan, M. Z. R. Bhuiyan, K. Chittem, F. Shahoveisi, M. E. Haque, Y. Liu, P. Hakk, S. Solanki, L. E. del Rio, and G. LaPlanteM. F. R. Khan†Corresponding author: M. F. R. Khan; E-mail Address: Mohamed.khan@ndsu.eduhttp://orcid.org/0000-0001-5294-8651Department of Plant Pathology, North Dakota State University, Fargo, ND 58102University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN 55108Search for more papers by this author, M. Z. R. BhuiyanDepartment of Plant Pathology, North Dakota State University, Fargo, ND 58102Search for more papers by this author, K. ChittemDepartment of Plant Pathology, North Dakota State University, Fargo, ND 58102Search for more papers by this author, F. ShahoveisiDepartment of Plant Pathology, North Dakota State University, Fargo, ND 58102Search for more papers by this author, M. E. HaqueDepartment of Plant Pathology, North Dakota State University, Fargo, ND 58102Search for more papers by this author, Y. LiuDepartment of Plant Pathology, North Dakota State University, Fargo, ND 58102Search for more papers by this author, P. HakkDepartment of Plant Pathology, North Dakota State University, Fargo, ND 58102Search for more papers by this author, S. SolankiDepartment of Plant Pathology, North Dakota State University, Fargo, ND 58102Search for more papers by this author, L. E. del RioDepartment of Plant Pathology, North Dakota State University, Fargo, ND 58102Search for more papers by this author, and G. LaPlanteGL Crop Consulting, Wahpeton, ND 58075Search for more papers by this author AffiliationsAuthors and Affiliations M. F. R. Khan1 2 † M. Z. R. Bhuiyan1 K. Chittem1 F. Shahoveisi1 M. E. Haque1 Y. Liu1 P. Hakk1 S. Solanki1 L. E. del Rio1 G. LaPlante3 1Department of Plant Pathology, North Dakota State University, Fargo, ND 58102 2University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN 55108 3GL Crop Consulting, Wahpeton, ND 58075 Published Online:12 Feb 2020https://doi.org/10.1094/PDIS-11-19-2304-PDNAboutSectionsSupplemental ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack Citations ShareShare onFacebookTwitterLinked InRedditEmailWechat Sugar beet (Beta vulgaris L.) is an economically important crop in North Dakota. In July 2019, light brown to black necrotic leaf lesions with grayish centers were observed on commercial sugar beet plants in Fairmount, North Dakota (46.054° N; 96.602° W). The disease was present in about 2% of plants and affected on average 40% of leaf tissues. Affected leaves were collected, surface disinfested in 70% ethanol for 1 min, rinsed three times in deionized water, and air dried in a laminar flow hood. Leaf pieces containing the edges of infected tissues were plated on dishes containing potato dextrose agar (PDA) and incubated in dark for 48 h at 25°C. Whitish, cottony mycelium were transferred into PDA plates for 10 days to obtain pure cultures. The pure cultures developed black sclerotia around the edge of the dishes. Sclerotia were hard with a blackish external appearance, globose to irregular shaped, and were 4.8 to 5.2 mm in length. Based on colony and sclerotial morphology, the cultures were putatively identified as Sclerotinia sclerotiorum (Kohn 1979). Genomic DNA was extracted from mycelium of two representative isolates, NDSB1 and NDSB2, using the Qiagen DNeasy Plant mini kit and subjected to a multiplex PCR assay that distinguishes four Sclerotinia species (Abd-Elmagid et al. 2013). A ≈170-bp amplicon was observed on a 1% agarose gel stained with ethidium bromide, confirming the identity of the isolates as S. sclerotiorum. The internal transcribed spacer-5.8S rDNA region was amplified using the ITS1/ITS4 primers (White et al. 1990). The nucleotide sequences of the 518-bp amplicons produced by NDSB1 and NDSB2 were 100% identical, so the nucleotide sequence of only one isolate was deposited in NCBI GenBank as NDSB1 (MN525565). The amplicon had 100% sequence identity with a number of S. sclerotiorum GenBank accessions (e.g., CP017820 and KY859158). Koch’s postulates were fulfilled using the same two North Dakota isolates (NDSB1 and NDSB2) to inoculate six-leaf growth stage sugar beet plants (Maribo 504). Four plants, one per replicate, were inoculated by placing a 1-cm agar plug with actively growing hyphal tips from a 48-h-old colony of S. sclerotiorum on a leaf. In each replicate, a second plant had an agar plug with no hyphae placed on a leaf. All plants were incubated in a misting chamber at 28°C for 48 h with 10 h of light daily, after which light brown necrotic lesions similar to field samples were observed. Mock-inoculated plants did not develop lesions. Isolations from infected tissues were morphologically identical to the ones retrieved from field plants. This is the first report of S. sclerotiorum infecting leaves on sugar beet in North Dakota, U.S.A. This report highlights the increased risk this disease represents to the sugar beet industry, especially because crops of economic importance, such as soybean and edible beans, are hosts of this pathogen and are typically planted in rotation with sugar beet.The author(s) declare no conflict of interest.References:Abd-Elmagid, A., et al. 2013. J. Microbiol. Methods 92:293. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mimet.2012.12.020 Crossref, ISI, Google ScholarKohn, L. M. 1979. Phytopathology 69:881. https://doi.org/10.1094/Phyto-69-881 Crossref, ISI, Google ScholarWhite, T. J., et al. 1990. Page 315 in: PCR Protocols: A Guide to Methods and Applications. Academic Press, San Diego, CA. Crossref, Google ScholarThe author(s) declare no conflict of interest.DetailsFiguresLiterature CitedRelated Vol. 104, No. 4 April 2020SubscribeISSN:0191-2917e-ISSN:1943-7692 DownloadCaptionDisease symptoms of leaves of the peach cultivar Royal Bell caused by Xanthomonas arboricola pv. pruni (R. Iličić and T. Popović). Photo credit: R. Iličić. Symptoms of chilli yellow ringspot virus on a chilli pepper plant (K. Y. Zheng et al.). Photo credit: J. H. Dong. Metrics Downloaded 1,717 times Article History Issue Date: 3 Apr 2020Published: 12 Feb 2020First Look: 17 Dec 2019Accepted: 15 Dec 2019 Pages: 1258-1258 Information© 2020 The American Phytopathological SocietyKeywordsfungivegetablesdisease managementpathogen diversityThe author(s) declare no conflict of interest.Cited ByFirst Report of Leaf Blight of Sugar Beet (Beta vulgaris) Caused by Sclerotinia sclerotiorum in Minnesota, U.S.A.Mohamed F. R. Khan, Md. Ziaur Rahman Bhuiyan, Yangxi Liu, Dilip Lakshman, and Mark Bloomquist19 July 2021 | Plant Health Progress, Vol. 22, No. 2Analysis and Identification of QTL for Resistance to Sclerotinia sclerotiorum in Pea (Pisum sativum L.)19 November 2020 | Frontiers in Genetics, Vol. 11

A full diallel cross comprising eight rice varieties (Marichboti, Patuakhali, Pukhi, Jhumkamarang, Mijingem, BR21, OS4 and IR20) was studied for root length, root diameter and root number to determine the nature of gene action in parents and hybrid populations. The cultivars originated from different countries and agro-ecological conditions and have diversity in terms of drought tolerance and root characteristics. Variances for general (GCA), specific (SCA) and reciprocal combining ability for all three characters were significant and indicated the presence of both additive and dominance gene actions. The GCA/SCA ratios indicated only additive gene action for the traits. The associations (r) between GCA and Yr demonstrated a close relation between the two components. Parents, Marichboti, Patuakhali, Pukhi and OS4 were found as general combiner for long root, whereas, Marichboti, Patuakhali, Jhumkamarang, Mijingem and OS4 were general combiner for both root thickness and root number. All types of parents more or less produced some good specific cross combinations. The crosses between good general combiner did not always produce good SCA effects in their cross combinations. Good combinations were also obtained even from the cross between good and poor or poor and poor general combiners depicting importance of additive x additive or dominance x dominance gene interactions.

A polymerase chain reaction (PCR) based approach, namely random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) analysis was applied to l0 varieties of onion (Allium cepa) in order to assess the degree of polymorphism within the genes and to investigate if this approach was suitable for genetic studies of onion. For this study, ten cultivars of onion were evaluated for variability using a set of 15 random l0-mer primers. The polymorphisms in PCR amplification products were subjected to the unweighed pair group method for arithmetic averages (UPGMA) and plotted in a phenogram. The dendogram constructed from the similarity data showed that all the cultivars analyzed were related. Among them, 12 of the primers revealed scorable (168 bands) polymorphisms between cultivars of A. cepa and the rest did not show polymorphism in their genetic level. In this study, it was found that Bermis and India-2 were more dissimilar and on the other hand, Faridpuri and Bhati were the most similar in their genetic level. Keywords: RAPD; onion; genetic diversity; polymorphism. DOI: 10.3329/bjar.v35i2.5894Bangladesh J. Agril. Res. 35(2) : 313-322, June 2010

The present study was conducted to investigate the effect of growth regulator NAA on in vitro shoot proliferation, rooting, and plantlet establishment. Among the different concentrations of NAA, the best increase in shoot weight (0.25 g) and shoot number (8.83) were observed from 0.1 mg/I NAA. The highest shoot length (2.60 cm), number of leaves (4.83), number of roots (5.15), and root length (2.67 cm) were obtained with 0.2 mg/I NAA at 60 DAT. Key Words: Dendrobium orchid, NAA, MS media. DOI: 10.3329/bjar.v34i3.3966 Bangladesh J. Agril. Res. 34(3) : 411-416, September 2009

This investigation was aimed at exploring the genetic diversity and relationship among nine Brassica varieties, namely BARI Sharisha-12, Agrani, Sampad, BINA Sharisha-4, BINA Sharisha-5, BARI Sharisha-13, Daulot, Rai-5, Alboglabra using Random Amplified Polymorphic DNA (RAPD) markers. In total, 59 reproducible DNA bands were generated by four arbitrary selected primers of which 58 (98.03%) bands were proved to be polymorphic. These bands ranged from 212 to 30686 bp in size. The highest proportion of polymorphic loci and gene diversity values were 37.29% and 0.1373, respectively, for BARI Sharisha-12 and the lowest proportion of polymorphic loci and gene diversity values were 8.47% and 0.0318, 8.47% and 0.0382 for BINA Sharisha-4 and Rai-5, respectively. A dendrogram was constructed using unweighted pair group method of arithmetic mean (UPGMA). The result of cluster analysis indicated that the 9 accessions were capable of being classified into 2 major groups. One group consists of BARI Sharisha-12, Agrani, Sampad, Daulot, Rai-5, Alboglabra. where Daulot and Rai-5 showed the lowest genetic distance of 0.049. And another group contains BINA Sharisha-4, BINA Sharisha-5, and BARI Sharisha-1 3, where BINA Sharisha-5 and BARI sharisha-13 showed genetic distance of 0.071. Key Words: RAPD, Brassica, genetic distance, polymorphic band. DOI: 10.3329/bjar.v34i3.3976 Bangladesh J. Agril. Res. 34(3) : 493-5032, September 2009