CORRESPONDENCE
Podosphaera fuliginea (Schltdl.) U. Braun & S. Takam. causes
powdery mildew on an important medicinal herb, Picrorhiza kurrooa
Royle ex. Benth. in India
Picrorhiza kurrooa Royle ex. Benth. is a flowering and low seed setting were cultivation. Although the crop is in the
perennial herbaceous medicinal plant observed in the infected plants and most initial stage of commercial cultivation in
belonging to the family Plantaginaceae of them also withered (Figure 1). the high-altitude villages of Uttarakhand,
(previously Scrophulariaceae). It is en- The detailed analysis of microscopic appearance of powdery mildew causes
demic to the Himalaya, and grows natu- characteristics revealed that Podosphae- damage to the crop and due to this far-
rally on rocks and moist slopes in the ra fuliginea (Schltdl.) U. Braun & S. mers are getting discouraged. The dis-
alpine and subalpine regions between Takam3 caused powdery mildew on P. ease needs to be controlled by fungicides
3000 and 4500 m amsl. Picroside I and II kurrooa. The detailed characteristics of of biological origin so that the medicinal
are the major active constituents of the the fungal pathogens are given below. properties of the plant are not affected.
plant1,2. It is used as a febrifuge, coolant, Mycelium white to brown, amphigen- Research can also be initiated to develop
blood purifier and hepatoprotective. P. ous, effuse or forming patches, persis- disease-resistant varieties of this plant in
kurrooa is an endangered medicinal plant tent; hyphae straight 2.5–7 μm wide with near future for the conservation of this
facing extinction due to overexploitation. simple or indistinct appressoria; conidio- valuable species for sustainable use.
A powdery mildew disease was obser- phores erect, straight, arising from the A literature review showed that no
ved on aerial parts of P. kurrooa under upper surface of hyphal mother cells, report of powdery mildew caused by P.
poly-house conditions in alpine field res- basal foot-cells cylindrical (45–90 × 9– fuliginea on P. kurrooa has been recorded
earch station at Tungnath (30°29′30.78″N, 15 μm), followed by 2–3 shorter cells, from India earlier.
79°13′00.44″E; 3354 m amsl) and forming catenescent conidia; conidia
under cultivated conditions at Pothivasa ellipsoid-ovoid to doliiform, 25–40 ×
(30°30′00.07″N, 79°09′57.82″E; 2036 m 15–19 μm; chasmothecia not found 1. Nautiyal, M. C. and Nautiyal, B. P., Agro-
techniques for High Altitude Medicinal &
amsl), Rudraprayag district, Uttarakhand (Figure 1 d).
Aromatic Plants, Bishen Singh Mahendra
during May–September 2016–2018. The Cultivation and conservation initia-
Pal Singh, 2004, pp. 121–122.
disease symptoms were observed on the tives of P. kurrooa by Government orga- 2. Vaidya, A. B. et al., Papers, 1996, 42(4),
adaxial surface as white powdery mass nizations and NGOs have been adopted 105–108.
which later turned brown, and the plants by high-altitude villages in Uttarakhand 3. Braun, U. and Cook, R. T. A., Taxonomic
withered and ultimately died. Poor and farmers are highly benefited by such Manual of the Erysiphales (Powdery Mil-
dews), CBS Biodiversity Series No. 11,
Fungal Biodiversity Centre, Utrecht, the
Netherlands, 2012, pp. 141–142.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS. We thank the
Director, High Altitude Plant Physiology Re-
search Centre, Srinagar Garhwal for providing
the necessary facilities, and Director, Aghar-
kar Research Institute, Pune for confirmation
of the species.
ANKIT SINGH1,*
M. C. NAUTIYAL1
A. K. GAUTAM2
1
High Altitude Plant Physiology
Research Centre,
H.N.B. Garhwal University,
Srinagar Garhwal 246 174, India
2
School of Agriculture,
Faculty of Science,
Abhilashi University,
Figure 1. Picrorhiza kurrooa: (a) unaffected plants; (b, c) affected plants and (d) fungi Mandi 175 028, India
with mycelium, conidiophores. *e-mail: [email protected]
CURRENT SCIENCE, VOL. 116, NO. 6, 25 MARCH 2019 877
