Pithomyces chartarum as a pathogen of wheat

Abstract

During routine surveys of wheat-growing (Triticum aestivum L.) areas of Hungary, symptomatic leaf samples were collected from different wheat cultivars. Macro- and micromorphological examinations of single-spore isolates showed some of them to belong to Pithomyces chartarum (teleomorph: Leptosphaerulina chartarum). Species assignment was confirmed by sequence analysis of the intergenic transcribed spacer region. P. chartarum isolates produced a range of secondary metabolites including gregatin, alternariol and alternariol monomethyl ether, but not sporidesmin, a mycotoxin responsible for photosensitisation and liver damage of grazing animals. Pathogenicity tests proved that P. chartarum can cause leaf damage to wheat. Disease symptoms were strikingly different in different wheat cultivars. This is the first report on pathogenicity of P. chartarum to wheat in Europe.