Diseases of wheat

Dr. Muhammad Ijaz

Plant Pathologist
Barani Agricultural research Institute
Chakwal
Complete bunt/common bunt/Stinking bunt
Common bunt-Tilletia caries
• Wheat kernels- have a gray green color and are wider
than healthy
• Can be seen in developing wheat heads but are often
not detected until harvest.
• The outer layers of diseased kernels remain intact
initially but are easily broken during grain harvest,
releasing masses of black, powdery spores.
• The fungus produces chemicals with a fishy odor,
which sometimes causes this disease to be referred
to as “stinking smut.
• Disease over summer as spores on seed,
• Management:
• Clean seed, seed treatments chemicals and resistant
cultivars.
• Carboxin, difenoconazole, triadimenol
• However, in Australia and Greece, strains of T.
laevis have developed resistance to polychlorobenzene
fungicides
Karnal Bunt/Partial Bunt-
Comparison of Karnal bunt verses Complete bunt
Karnal bunt- Tilletia indica
• Disease of- durum wheat and tricale • Control
• Fungus- invades the kernels and obtains nutrients • Chemical control via seed treatments has not
from the endosperm, leaving behind waste products been a viable solution.
with a disagreeable odor that makes bunted kernels
• Cultural techniques: Delayed DOS -to avoid
too unpalatable for use in flour or pasta.
the weather conditions which favor
• Yield: Potential to dramatically decrease yield and teliospore germination,
poses additional economic concerns through • Crop-rotation -non-host species for several
quarantines years may reduce the number of teliospore in
• Epidemiology: given field significantly.
• Relative humidity over 70% favors teliospore • Chemical control -eradicate over 80%
development. of Tilletia indica infection in wheat following
two foliar applications of the fungicide
• Day time temperatures in the range of 18–24 °C, and
propiconozole.
soil temperatures in the range of 17–21 °C also
increase the severity of Karnal bunt
Chemical control:

• Four foliar applications-mancozeb or copper hydroxide- effective when applied

to host foliage 72 hours post-infection
• -Not effective as seed treatment extract of Acalypha indica and Lantana
camara, when sprayed on wheat leaves, reduce the number of infected plants
by 65%
• Resistance –Work in progress though genotype has identified yet.
Botanical fungicide for karnal bunt

Lantana camara Acalypha indica

Flag smut of wheat-Urocystis agropyri
Flag smut
• Disease Starts in young tissues. Early symptoms include
• Twisting of Coleoptile
• Older plant leaves have white striations that eventually turn silvery gray,
• Evidence of the pathogen's impending sporulation-stunted growth, increased leaf production,
sterile seeds, and failure to produce heads or have successful leaf expansion.
• Epidemiology: arid summers, moderate temperatures, and mild winters-Flag smut fungi
germinate in dry soils when the temperature ranges from - 4-270C
• Plant debris on soil surfaces- Mild winters improves the pathogen's ability to establish
infections
• Disease resistant cultivars, chemical seed treatments, and crop rotation to reduce
amount of inocula present
• In addition to seed treatments, application of systemic fungicides early in the growing
season and at low doses is effective at controlling the disease- Sowing seeds shallowly
in soil also helps to reduce disease occurrence
Fusarium head blight
Fusarium head blight
Fusarium head blight
• Symptoms of Fusarium head blight include tan or
light brown lesions encompassing one or more
spikelets.
• Some diseased spikelets may have a dark brown
discoloration at the base and an orange fungal mass
along the lower portion of the glume.
• Grain from plants infected by Fusarium head blight
is often shriveled and has a white chalky
appearance. Some kernels may have a pink
discoloration.
• Management: Avoid the most susceptible varieties
and Spray foliar fungicide
 F. culmorum and F. pseudograminearum on root
• Symptoms In November-January, roots are brown,
and the sub-crown internode is discolored.
• At about boot stage, roots and sub-crown internode
are uniformly dark brown. The lower stem extending
above the first node may be streaked or uniformly
brown.
• After heading, white heads may develop that may
be void of kernels or produce shriveled kernels.
Plants may die prematurely. Early infections may
also cause seed decay or damping-off
Fusarium wilt/root infection Present status in Pakistan
Fusarium wilt/root infection
• Cultural control
• Seed wheat when the soil temperature at seed depth is 150C or below.
• Rotate 2 or more years out of cereal crops.
• Moldboard plowing, reducing the seeding rate, and reducing the amount of
nitrogen are helpful.
• Seed treatment fungicide is helpful to protect against seed rot or seedling
diseases.
• Raxil DS, Thyophinate methyl, Carbendazim,
 Loose smut-Ustilago tritici
• The normal head tissue of plants infected by
loose smut is completely replaced with dark
masses of fungal spores, giving the heads a
black powdery appearance.
• It is possible to see heads damaged by loose
smut while much of the head is still inside the
boot.
• Only the central stem of the head is left after
the spores are released.
• Management: Corboxin 2g/kg of seed
Sooty head mold/Black point-Alternaria, Bipolaris, and Cladosporium
• Sooty head molds are characterized by a dark green or
black mold growth on the surface of mature wheat
heads.
• These molds are part of a naturally occurring complex
of organisms that help to decay dead plant debris
▪ Sooty molds are most common when mature wheat is
subjected to repeated rains and delayed harvest
▪ This disease also may affect plants that have been
damaged by root rot.
• The sooty head mold growth is normally superficial.
• Its affect on grain is thought to be minor, but it can
make for dusty harvest operations.
• Sooty molds can contribute to a discoloration of the
grain called “black point.”
• Management:Triazole, strobilurion
 Alternaria leaf spot
• Seeds infected with A. triticina are often
shriveled, with a brown discoloration of the
seed surface. Infected seeds are small with
a 46-75% reduction in weight.
• Seeds that appear normal in colour have
also been shown to harbour the pathogen.
• Germination rate and seedling height are
reduced when seeds are inoculated with
conidia.
• Foliar fungicides, such as mancozeb, ziram,
copperoxychloride, and propineb, can
prevent further infection from secondary
inoculum.
• 2 applications of copperoxychloride +
Mancozeb 15 days apart.
Powdery mildew- Erysiphe graminis f tritci
• Powdery mildew causes white
lesions on leaves and leaf sheaths.
• Glumes and awns also can be
infected when disease is severe.
• Fungal growth is largely limited to
outer plant surfaces and can be
easily wiped away by rubbing a
finger across affected areas.
• Mature lesions may have dark,
reproductive structures mixed with
the white, cottony growth of the
fungus.
• Management: Genetic resistance,
foliar fungicides
 Bacterial streak- Xanthomonas translucens
▪ Bacterial streak and black chaff is a bacterial -
common in irrigated fields or in areas with
abundant rainfall during the growing season.
▪ The disease also occurs on barley, oats, rye,
triticale, and many grasses
▪ Early symptoms of bacterial streak include small,
water soaked areas between leaf veins.
▪ These water-soaked areas become tan streaks
within a few days.
▪ When the disease is severe, streaks may merge to
form large, irregular areas of dead tissue.
▪ When dew is present, the Bacteria causing this
disease may ooze from the lesions and dry to form
a clear, thin film.
▪ This film flakes easily and is visible when the leaf
is viewed from different perspectives.
Management: Less susceptible varieties -clean seed -
Avoid using overhead irrigation which will contribute
to pathogen spread.
Barley Yellow dwarf virus

▪ This viral disease causes wheat leaves to have a

yellow or red discoloration.
▪ The discoloration is often more intense near the
tip of affected leaves, giving them a flame-like
appearance.
▪ Barley yellow dwarf often occurs in patches
within a field.
▪ The size and distribution of these patches
depends on the feeding activity of aphids, which
spread barley yellow dwarf virus.
▪ Infected plants within these patches may be
shorter than neighboring healthy plants.
Management: Genetic resistance, delayed
planting date, insecticide seed treatment.
Septoria tritici leaf blotch
• This fungal disease causes tan, elongated lesions on wheat
leaves.
• Lesions may have a yellow margin, but the degree of
yellowing varies among varieties.
• The dark, reproductive structures produced by the fungus
are key diagnostic features and can often be seen without
magnification.
• This disease is also known as speckled leaf blotch.
• Management: Genetic resistance,
• Foliar fungicides,
• Crop rotation.
Stagonospora nodorum leaf blotch
• The lesions of Stagonospora leaf blotch
are normally brown or tan, surrounded
by a thin, yellow halo.
• Lesions caused by Stagonospora leaf
blotch are more irregular in shape and
often have a darker color than those of
tan spot.
• The presence of small, honey-colored
fungal reproductive structures is
diagnostic for Stagonospora nodorum
blotch; however, these reproductive
structures are only visible with
considerable magnification.
• Management:
• Genetic resistance,
• Foliar fungicides,
• Crop rotation
• Fungicide seed treatment.
Tan Spot-Drechslera tritici-repentis
• The key diagnostic feature of tan spot is tan
lesions with a yellow margin.
• Mature tan spot lesions often have a dark
area in the center.
• Lesions may merge as they expand, resulting
in large sections of diseased leaf tissue.
• The fungus that causes tan spot survives in
the debris of previous wheat crops and
produces small, black reproductive structures
in the spring.
• Management: Avoid planting into wheat
residue,
• Destroy crop residue
• Genetic resistance,
• Foliar fungicides.
Cephalosporium leaf stripe- C.gramineum
Cephalosporium leaf stripe
• Stripe appear initially, lower leaves may have a mottled appearance or faint yellow stripes.
• Yellow stripes running from the tip of the leaf blade to its base and down the leaf sheath is characteristic of
Cephalosporium stripe.
• Each leaf may have one to three stripes. As leaves age, fine, brown (necrotic) streaks develop in the center of the stripes
and extend down the leaf sheaths.
• These streaks are the colonized water-conducting tissue (xylem) that becomes plugged with the fungus.
• During the period of rapid growth, symptoms may fade or become less obvious; however, the stripes will eventually
appear in the flag leaves.
• Infected stems are stunted leading to a double-canopy of healthy and infected heads.
• Management:
• Seed treatments
• Foliar fungicides-not effective in controlling Cephalosporium stripe;
• Cultural practices and variety selection.
• Seeding date:
• Rotation. Longer breaks between susceptible crops-Because the fungus survives only on straw colonized while the plant is
alive, the pathogen dies when the host straw decomposes- the rotation should allow 2 years out wheat. Rotation crops
include spring wheat and barley, peas, lentils, or fallow.
• Soil pH. Cephalosporium stripe develops when soil pH is less than 6.0. C. gramineum produces the most spores when the pH
ranges from 3.9 to 5.5. Liming to raise soil pH is effective in controlling Cephalosporium stripe, especially when pH is less
than 5.5.------Tillage: Tillage decompose straw
Thanks to Remain
Attentive