Net blotch of barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) caused by the fungus Pyrenophora teres (anamorph Drechslera teres) is found in two forms, net form net blotch (NFNB) and spot form net blotch (SFNB). When inoculated on susceptible varieties, P. teres f. teres produces lesions with a characteristic net-like pattern surrounded by necrosis or chlorosis (NFNB), whereas P. teres f. maculata produces lesions consisting of spots surrounded by necrosis or chlorosis (SFNB). Recently, epidemics of SFNB have occurred throughout the world (4). Currently, net blotch is a significant foliar disease of barley in the North Dakota-Northwestern Minnesota agricultural region, a leading barley-production area. Diseased barley leaf tissue was collected annually from 2004 to 2008 in Fargo and Langdon, ND. Diseased leaves were incubated to promote sporulation. Ten single-spore isolates of P. teres collected from each location each year were tested for virulence by inoculation on 20 commonly used barley net blotch differential lines. Among the 100 isolates collected, one isolate collected in Fargo in 2006 (FGOH06Pt-8) and one isolate collected in Langdon in 2008 (LDNH08Pt-4) were identified as P. teres f. maculata due to their induction of spot-type lesions across the differential set. Conidial morphology of the two isolates was similar to P. teres f. teres isolates. A pathogenicity test of all isolates was performed on regional barley cvs. Tradition, Robust, and Lacey as well as barley lines Rika and Kombar (1) as previously described (3). The net form isolate 0-1 and spot form isolate DEN2.6 (obtained from B. Steffenson, University of Minnesota) were used as controls. The P. teres f. teres isolate 0-1 produced typical net type symptoms on all barley lines except the resistant line Rika, in which only small, dark spots were observed. DEN2.6 produced pin-point spot-like lesions with an extensive yellow halo on Robust, Lacey, Rika, and Kombar, but without chlorosis on Tradition. The two newly identified isolates induced elliptical spot-type lesions measuring 3 × 6 mm, larger than those produced by P. teres f. maculata isolate DEN 2.6, suggesting a higher level of virulence. We constructed a neighbor-joining phylogenetic tree using ClustalW2 (http://www.ebi.ac.uk/) based on sequence identity of the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region from 0-1 (GenBank No. GU014819), DEN2.6 (GenBank No. GU014820), FGOH06Pt-8 (GenBank No. GU014821), and LDNH08Pt-4 (GenBank No. GU014822) as well as P. teres f. maculata, P. teres f. teres, and P. tritici-repentis (causal agent of tan spot of wheat) accessions obtained from GenBank (2). All P. teres isolates clustered together and were clearly separated from the P. tritici-repentis cluster. Isolates FGOH06Pt-8 and LDNH08Pt-4 had identical ITS sequences and differed from DEN2.6 by only a single nucleotide. To our knowledge, this is the first report of P. teres f. maculata in North Dakota. Resistance to SFNB should now be considered in local barley breeding programs and cultivar releases.
Reference: (1) M. Abu Qamar. Theor. Appl. Genet. 117:1261, 2008. (2) R. M. Andrie et al. Fungal Genet. Biol. 45:363, 2008. (3) Z. Lai et al. Fungal Genet. Biol. 44:323, 2007. (4) M. S. McLean et al. Crop Pasture Sci. 60:303, 2009.
