Southern corn leaf blight

Southern corn leaf blight
Southern corn leaf blight on maize
Causal agentsCochliobolus heterostrophus

Southern corn leaf blight (SCLB) is a fungal disease of maize caused by the plant pathogen Bipolaris maydis (also known as Cochliobolus heterostrophus in its teleomorph state).

The fungus is an Ascomycete and can use conidia or ascospores to infect.[1] There are three races of B. maydis: Race O, Race C, and Race T; SCLB symptoms vary depending on the infectious pathogen's race. Race T is infectious to corn plants with the Texas male sterile cytoplasm (cms-T maize) and this vulnerability was the cause of the United States SCLB epidemic of 1969-1970[2] For this reason, Race T is of particular interest. While SCLB thrives in warm, damp climates, the disease can be found in many of the world's maize-growing areas.[3] Typical management practices include breeding for host resistance, cultural controls and fungicide use.

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference Agrios was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ 1 Ullstrup, A. J., Annual Review of Phytopathology 10 (1), 37 (1972).
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference CIMMYT was invoked but never defined (see the help page).