International Congress of Plant Pathology (1998) Kurkela et al. - Differences between ...

T. Kurkela, M. Hanso and J. Hantula (1998)
Differences between Melampsoridium rusts on birch and alder leaves
International Congress of Plant Pathology 7th meeting (section 2.2)
Edinburgh, U.K. (9 - 16 Aug. 1998), Poster presented in section: Population genetics, structure and dynamics
Abstract: Background and objectives
Melampsoridium rust epidemics on alder leaves occurred in Estonia in 1996 and 1997, and in Finland in 1997. Rust fungus M. betulinum appears annually on birches in northern forests. Two Melampsoridium species has been described on alders, M. aini and M. hiratsukanum. In the literature, some confusion has occurred in identifying Melampsoridium species on alders and distinguishing them from birch rust. In this study we tested possibilities of distinguishing the rusts observed on birch and alder by morphological and/or PCR-based methods.
Materials and methods
The morphology of uredospores and variation of DNA at internal transcribed spacer regions (ITS) were studied in Melampsoridium rust samples collected from birch (Betula penduia and B. pubescens) and alder (Alnus glutinosa and A. incana) leaves in Estonia and Finland in the autumn of 1997.
Results and conclusions
The rust occurring on birch had longer uredospores, the average length in Estonian and in Finnish samples were 30 and 33 ;µm respectively, and in alder rust the corresponding measures were 25 and 27nbsp;µm. The breadth of the spores did not differ between the samples. Birch rust uredospores were not echinulated in their broader end. Alder rust spores had echinulation in both ends. The roundness of the spores was also a differentiating character. The average roundness index varied in alder rusts from 1.33 to 1.41 and in birch rusts from 1.46 to 1.60. The PCR-amplified ITS regions from alder and birch rusts could be separated by denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis. Our conclusion is that the rusts we observed on A. glutinosa and A. incana are different from M. betulinum at species level and they are morphologically similar to M. hiratsukanum.
(The abstract is excluded from the Creative Commons licence and has been copied with permission by the publisher.)
Database assignments for author(s): Timo Kurkela, Jarkko Hantula, Märt Hanso

Research topic(s) for pests/diseases/weeds:
identification/taxonomy

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Pest and/or beneficial records:

Beneficial	Pest/Disease/Weed	Crop/Product	Country	Quarant.
	Melampsoridium betulinum	Birch (Betula)	Estonia
	Melampsoridium betulinum	Birch (Betula)	Finland
	Melampsoridium hiratsukanum	Alder (Alnus)	Estonia
	Melampsoridium hiratsukanum	Alder (Alnus)	Finland