Host Range of a Taiwanese Isolate of Peronosclerospora sacchari. M. R. Bonde, Research Plant Pathologist, Plant Disease Research Laboratory, Agricultural Research, Science and Education Administration, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Frederick, MD 21701. G. L. Peterson, Biological Laboratory Technician, Plant Disease Research Laboratory, Agricultural Research, Science and Education Administration, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Frederick, MD 21701. Plant Dis. 65:739-740. Accepted for publication 30 December 1980. This article is in the public domain and not copyrightable. It may be freely reprinted with customary crediting of the source. The American Phytopathological Society, 1981. DOI: 10.1094/PD-65-739.

Sixty-six plant species representing 31 genera within eight grass tribes were tested for susceptibility to systemic infection after conidial inoculation with an isolate of Peronosclerospora sacchari from Taiwan. All susceptible species were members of the genera Andropogon (two species), Bothriochloa (five species), Eulalia (one species), Saccharum (one species), Schizachyrium (four species), and Sorghum (two species) of the tribe Andropogoneae; and Tripsacum (one species) and Zea (one species) of the tribe Maydeae. Not all species tested in these genera were susceptible, and in many instances only a small percentage of the plants of a susceptible accession became infected. Some susceptible species are common perennial grasses in the continental United States. These, and perhaps other closely related plants, might allow P. sacchari to overwinter if the pathogen were to spread to the United States. Oospores were not detected.

Keyword(s): downy mildew, maize, Sclerospora sacchari, sugarcane.