FUNDAMENTAL OF PLANT PATHOLOGY

ANTHRACNOSE OF CHILI AND ITS

CONTROL

 NAME : NURLIYANA BT AHMAD MAZLAN

 MATRIC NO. : 150887
 SUBJECT CODE : PLP3204
 DATE SUBMIT : 11 NOVEMBER 2010
 LECTURER : ASSOC. PROF. DR. ZAINAL ABIDIN MIOR AHMAD
 GROUP :1
Table of Contents

Introduction 3

Classification and Morphology 4

Disease Symptoms and Life Cycle 5

Disease Control Recommendations 7

References 8

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INTRODUCTION

Anthracnose, derived from a Greek word meaning ‘coal’, is the common name for the plant
disease characterized by very dark, sunken lesion, containing spore. Anthracnose of chili was
first reported from New Jersey, USA by Halsted in 1980. Anthracnose disease is one of the
major economic constraints to chili production worldwide, especially in tropical and subtropical
regions. This disease caused extensive pre- and post-harvest damage to chili fruits causing
anthracnose lesions. Even a small anthracnose lesion on chili fruits, it reduces their marketable
value.

Generally, anthracnose disease is caused by Colletotrichum species which belong to the

Kingdom Fungi, Phylum Ascomycota. Colletotrichum is one of the most important plant
pathogens that caused the anthracnose disease in a wide range of host including cereals, legumes,
vegetables, perennial crops and tree fruits. Among these hosts, chili, an important economic crop
worldwide is severely infected by anthracnose which may cause yield losses of up to 50%.
Anthracnose of chili has been shown to be caused by Colletotrichum capsici. Anthracnose
disease is also known as dieback blight or ripe rot.

Chili is considered to be one of the most important crops in the tropics. The most important
producers and exporters of chili include China, India, Mexico, Morocco, Pakistan, Thailand, and
Turkey. Disease caused by fungi, bacteria, and viruses are the major constraints to chili
production. Anthracnose disease caused by Colletotrichum species, bacterial wilt caused by
Pseudomonas solanacearum, and mosaic disease caused by cucumber mosaic virus (CMV) are
the most destructive disease of chili (Isaac, 1992). Anthracnose is mainly a problem on a mature
fruits, causing severe losses due to pre-post harvest fruit decay (Bosland and Votava, 2003).

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CLASSIFICATION AND MORPHOLOGY

Generally, anthracnose disease is caused by the Colletotrichum species which belongs to

Kingdom Fungi; Phylum Ascomycota; Class Sordariomyctes; Order Phyllachorales; and Family
Phyllachoraceae. The anamorphs are Glomerella species. For chili anthracnose, it is caused by
Colletotrichum Capsici.

This species can survive in and on seed as acervuli and micro-sclerotia (Pernezy et al., 2003).
Survival of mycelia and stomata in colonized chili seeds has been reported. Colletotrichum
species naturally produce micro-sclerotia to allow dormancy in the soil during the winter or
when subjected to the stressful conditions and these micro-sclerotia can survive for many years.

Colletotrichum Capsici produce conidia in fruiting body called acervulus. This acervulus is
saucer-like shaped while the conidia are in the sickle shaped. During warm and wet periods,
conidia from acervuli and micro-sclerotia are splashed by rain or irrigation water from diseased
to healthy fruit and foliage. Diseased fruits act as a source of inoculums, allowing the disease to
spread from plant to plant within the field (Roberts et al., 2001).

Colletotrichum species also produce a series of specialized infection structures such as germ
tubes, appressoria, intercellular hyphae, and secondary necrotrophic hyphae.

Figure 1

Spores of Colletotrichum capsici released from a fungal fruiting body (acervulus) with numerous
black, spines (setae) on chili.

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DISEASE SYMPTOM AND LIFE CYCLE

a) Disease symptoms

Anthracnose disease is prevalent wherever the crop is grown. It is attack all part of the plant at
any growth stages including post harvest stages. As this disease also known as the dieback blight
or ripe rot, the symptoms are observed in two phase which are on twigs as dieback and on
ripened fruits as ripe rot. The symptoms are most valuable on leaves and ripe fruits.

At first, anthracnose generally appears on leaves as small and irregular yellow, brown, dark-
brown, or black spots. The spot can expand and merge to cover the whole affected area. The
color of the infected part darkens as it ages. Shoot necrosis and dieback symptoms are also
observed in some infected area.

Ripe rot symptoms is first appear on mature fruits as small, water soaked, sunken lesion and
rapidly expand that may increased up to 1.2 cm in diameter. Fully developed lesions are sunken
and range from the dark red to light tan with varying amount of visible dark acervuli of the
fungus. The fungus invades seed cavity, where seed are covered with mycelium.

Anthracnose disease can also produce canker on the petiole and on the stems that caused severe
defoliation and rotting of fruits and roots. In the advanced stages, the entire plant is withered,
producing poor quality and less number of chili fruits.

Figure 2

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 Anthracnose of chili lesion

b) Pathogen life cycle

Initial infection by Colletotrichum Capsici involves a series of processes including the

attachment of conidia to plant surface, germination of conidia, production of adhesive
appressoria, penetration of plant epidermis, growth and colonization of plant tissue and
production of acervuli and sporulation (Prusky et al., 2000). These pathogens infect plants by
either colonizing subcuticular tissue intramurally or being established intracellulary.

Colletotrichum Capsici life cycle involves 2 stages which is asexual life cycle and sexual life
cycle:

I. Asexual Life Cycle

 The acervuli on the lesions caused by Colletotrichum Capsici release spores called conidia,
which are dispersed by wind. Conidia can also be spread by rain, which splashes them onto other
plants. When a conidium lands on a plant it can infect, it penetrates the plant's skin. Once inside
the plant, the Colletotrichum Capsici grows and spreads as a mycelium, the fiberous form of the
fungus. The symptoms of a Colletotrichum Capsici infection appear when the mycelium breaks
through the surface of the plant and produces acervuli.

II. Sexual Life Cycle

 Colletotrichum occasionally produces a special form called a hypha instead of a mycelium.

The hypha is the sexual form of Colletotrichum Capsici. Two hyphae from different
Colletotrichum Capsici individuals fuse together and produce a spore through sexual
reproduction. This spore is called an ascospore, and it can survive in the environment for a very
long time. Sexual reproduction produces genetically diverse offspring, and this genetic diversity
helps Colletotrichum Capsici survive under different conditions and environments.

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DISEASE CONTROL RECOMMENDATIONS

Agrios (2005) recommended integrated management techniques, as no single specific

management program could eliminate chili anthracnose. Effective control of Colletotrichum
disease usually involves the use of combination of cultural control, biological control, chemical
control and intrinsic resistance.

Anthracnose disease should not be introduced on infected plants. Only seed that are pathogen-
free should be planted. Transplants should be kept clean by controlling weeds and solanaceous
volunteers around the transplant houses. The field should have a good drainage and be free from
the infected plant debris. If the disease was previously present, crops should be rotated away
from solanaceous plants for at least 2 years. Beside that, sanitations also practiced in the field
include control of weeds and volunteer chili plant.

Choosing cultivars that bear fruit with a shorter ripening period may allow fruit to escape
infection of fungus. Wounds in fruits from insects or the other means should be reduced to the
extent possible because wounds provide entry points of Colletotrichum spp. and other pathogen s
like bacteria that caused soft rot. At the end of the season, infected plant debris from the field
must be removed or deep ploughed to completely cover crop disease.

Seed of the chili be obtained from certified agencies and must be treated with fungicides. The
fungicides traditionally recommended for anthracnose management in chili is Manganese
ethylenebisdithiocarbamate (Maneb) (Smith, 2000), although it does not consistently control the
severe from anthracnose on chili fruits. This disease also can be controlled under normal weather
conditions with a reasonable spray program. Sprays of chemical such as captan and carbendazim
at 10-15 days intervals after planting have been recommended.

So, far biological control methods for chili anthracnose disease have not received much
attention. The potential biological control of Colletotrichum species had been suggested is by
using Azospirillum sp. and Azobacter sp.

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REFERENCES

1. Agrios GN. Plant Pathology. 5th Ed. San Diego: Academic Press; 2005. p. 922.
2. AVRDC (Asian Vegetable Research and Development Centre) Taiwan, China: Asian
Vegetable Research and Development Centre; 2003. AVRDC Progress Report for 2002.
3. Bosland PW, Votava EJ. Peppers: Vegetable and Spice Capsicums. England: CAB
International; 2003. p. 233.
4. Po Po Than, Haryudian Prihastuti, Sitthisack Phoulivong, Paul W.J. Taylor, and Kevin D.
Hyde. Chilli anthracnose disease caused by Colletotrichum species, Volume 9, Number
10; 2008
5. Pernezny K, Roberts PD, Murphy JF, et al. Compendium of Pepper Diseases. St. Paul,
Minnedota: The American Phytopathological Society; 2003. p. 73.
6. Prusky D, Koblier I, Aridi R, Beno-Moalem D, Yakoby N, Keen NT. Resistance
Mechanisms of Subtropical Fruits to Colletotrichum gloeosporioides . In: Bailey JA,
Jeger MJ, editors. Colletotrichum: Biology, Pathology, and Control. Wallingford: CAB
International; 2000. pp. 232–244.
7. Roberts PD, Pernezny K, Kucharek TA. Anthracnose caused by Colletotrichum sp. on
pepper. Journal of University of Florida/Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences. 2001
8. Smith KL. Peppers. In: Precheur RJ, editor. Ohio Vegetable Production Guide.
Columbus, Ohio: Ohio State University Extension; 2000. pp. 166–173.
9. Wikipedia. Capsicum. USA: Wikimedia Foundation, Inc; 2007. (Available from:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capsicum)
10. Wikipedia. Colletotrichum. USA: Wikimedia Foundation, Inc; 2007. (Available from:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colletotrichum)
11. Wikipedia. Colletotrichum capsici. USA: Wikimedia Foundation, Inc; 2007. (Available
from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colletotrichum_capsici)

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