Phytoparasitica (2000) 28, p. 284 (Gamliel et al.)

Ephrath Gamliel, D. Shtienberg, H. Vintal and A. Dinoor (2000)
Development and maturation of perithecia of Didymella rabiei on chickpea straw
Phytoparasitica 28 (3), 284-284
21st Congress of the Israeli Phytopathological Society, February 14-15, 2000, Bet Dagan, Israel, lecture
Abstract: Didymella rabiei is the perfect stage of Ascochyta rabiei, the causal agent of Ascochyta blight in chickpea. The disease is one of the main constraints to chickpea production in the Mediterranean area. The sexual fruiting bodies, the perithecia, develop on chickpea straw during the autumn and winter and mature in early spring, together with the growth of the new chickpea crop. Factors affecting the development and maturation of perithecia were studied in a controlled environment and in the field. Both mating types of the fungus were detected in all chickpea production areas in Israel, indicating that potentially, the development of the perfect stage is feasible. Effects of temperature on the development and maturation of perithecia were determined on artificially inoculated pieces of chickpea stems. Stem pieces were exposed to three periods (of 3 weeks each) of varying temperatures (between 5 and 20°C). In the first period they were exposed to one temperature, transferred to another temperature in the second period, and then to a third temperature for the last period. Mature perithecia developed only if the stem pieces were exposed to 5-15°C in the first period, 5-10°C in the second period and 5-20°C in the third period. In a second set of experiments different scenarios of wetting/drying alternations of the stem pieces were tested. Mature perithecia did not develop on stem pieces that remained dry for the duration of the experiment but only on those that were wet, at least for some of the time. However, significantly more perithecia developed on stem pieces that were exposed to wetting/drying alternations than on those that were kept continuously wet for the duration of the experiment.
Database assignments for author(s): Dani Shtienberg

Research topic(s) for pests/diseases/weeds:
general biology - morphology - evolution
rearing/culturing/mass production

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Pest and/or beneficial records:

Beneficial	Pest/Disease/Weed	Crop/Product	Country	Quarant.
	Ascochyta rabiei	Chickpea (Cicer arietinum)	Israel