Mycological Progress (2022) 21, 59-69

Aye Aye Htun, Hai Feng Liu, Lin He, Zhen Zhou Xia, Sein Lai Lai Aung and Jian Xin Deng (2022)
New species and new record of Alternaria from onion leaf blight in Myanmar
Mycological Progress 21 (1), 59-69
Abstract: Onion (Allium cepa) is an important globally cultivated crop and is known to be susceptible to purple blotch caused by Alternaria porri. The causal pathogens of blight symptoms from onion in Myanmar were isolated and identified. In addition to Stemphylium vesicarium, a large-spored Alternaria with unique morphology as well as a small-spored Alternaria were obtained. To identify the two Alternaria fungal pathogens, morphological characteristics and molecular phylogenies based on multigene sequence analysis of the internal transcribed spacer of ribosomal DNA (ITS) region, glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH), Alternaria major allergen (ALT), translation-elongation factor 1 (EF1-α), and RNA polymerase second largest subunit (RPB2) genes were used. This revealed the presence of a small-spored Alternaria, A. burnsii, and a new large-spored species here described as A. cepae sp. nov. The novel species is morphologically distinct from its closely related species of A. montanica. Pathogenicity assays revealed that Stemphylium vesicarium, A. burnsii, and A. cepae were the causal agents of the onion leaf blight of the current study, and that A. cepae exhibited the most virulence. However, A. porri, which has been reported as the most important onion pathogen worldwide, was absent during this investigation.
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Research topic(s) for pests/diseases/weeds:
surveys/sampling/distribution

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Pest and/or beneficial records:

Beneficial	Pest/Disease/Weed	Crop/Product	Country	Quarant.
	Stemphylium vesicarium	Onion/garlic/leek (Allium)	Myanmar
	Alternaria burnsii	Onion/garlic/leek (Allium)	Myanmar