Studies on the host range of Septoria species on cereals and some wild grasses in Iran

Abstract

In an attempt to determine the host range of Septoria species, 27 species/varieties of cereals and certain wild grasses were examined with inoculation experiments under controlled conditions. Most Septoria species were each pathogenic only on a particular host plant, and wild grasses played only a minor role as alternative hosts for these fungi. Septoria tritici isolates from Triticum aestivum infected T. aestivum, T. durum, T. dicoccum and T. compactum, species that may provide a primary inoculum source for S. tritici. Septoria isolates from Aegilops tauschii, Lolium loliaceum, Lophochloa phleoides, Phalaris paradoxa and Hordeum glaucum were pathogenic only on their original hosts. S. passerinii isolates from Hordeum vulgare and H. distichon were pathogenic on all Hordeum species/cultivars tested except H. glaucum. Thus various Hordeum species may play a role in the epidemiology of Septoria diseases on barley.