Diseases of Kikuyugrass


Blast
Causal organism: Pyricularia sp., Imperfect fungi
Spot-causing fungal disease occurring mainly in the warm regions. The lesions are ash white with brown border and short spindle-shaped. The lesion size is about 2-5mm, but soon they fuse mutually and cause leaf blight of the entire leaf. the species of the causal organism has not yet investigated enough.

Diseases of Fall panicum


Blast
Causal organism: Pyricularia sp., Imperfect fungi
Spot-causing fungal disease occurring mainly in the warm regions. The lesions are ash white with brown border and short spindle-shaped. The lesion size is about 2-5mm, but soon they fuse mutually and cause leaf blight of the entire leaf. the species of the causal organism has not yet investigated enough.


Sheath blight
Causal organism: Rhizoctonia solani Kühn
The disease firstly occurs in the ground side of stem around the rainy season and progresses up through sheaths. The lesion becomes cloud-shaped, ash white with brown border. Brown sclerotia with a smooth surface are produced on the lesion at the latter stage of the occurrence. They drop to ground, and become the primary inocula of next year. It occurs severely under high temperature (especially 30C or more) and high humidity condition. The pathogen is common in summer blight of pastures and sheath blight of rice and sorghum, etc.


Smut (undescribed disease in Japan)
Causal organism: Ustilago sp.?, Basidiomycotina

Diseases of Guineagrass


Blast
Causal organism: Pyricularia sp. LS-Group, Imperfect fungi
Fungal disease causing spots on leaves and sheaths. The disease occurred in Yamaguchi Pref. in 1997 and Okinawa Pref. in 2003. Lesion are oval to spindle-shaped, grayish white with dark brown border, 2-5 x 1-2mm in size.


Leaf spot
Causal organism: Bipolaris sp., Imperfect fungi
Fungal disease causing spots on leaves and sheaths. The disease occurred in Okinawa Pref., the most southern region of Japan in 2003. It also occurs on Panicum repens L. and goosegrass. Lesion are short stripe-shaped to oval, yellowish brown to red. The damage is severe on some grasses.


Smut
Causal organism: Conidiosporomyces ayresii (Berk.) Vanky, Basidiomycotina
Smut disease found in the Ishigaki Islands, Okinawa, in southernmost Japan in March 2010. Spikelets of susceptible cultivars were swollen and filled with gray spore masses and seed production is substantially reduced.


Summer blight
Causal organism: Rhizoctonia solani Kühn AG-1, IA
The disease occurred in Yamaguchi Pref. in 1997. Ash green or white, oval lesions with brown borders appear at first from the plant near the ground and develop to upper-ground part. The lesions then fuse each other causing whole plant rot and death. Later grayish brown to brown sclerotia are produced on the infected part. AG-1 IA of R. solani causes the disease.

Diseases of Bluepanic


Leaf blight (undescribed disease in Japan)
Causal organism: Exserohilum rostratum (Drechsler) Leonard et Suggs, Imperfect fungi

Diseases of Greenpanic


Blast
Causal organism: Pyricularia sp., Imperfect fungi
Spot-causing fungal disease occurring mainly in the warm regions. The lesions are ash white with brown border and short spindle-shaped. The lesion size is about 2-5mm, but soon they fuse mutually and cause leaf blight of the entire leaf. the species of the causal organism has not yet investigated enough.


Sheath blight (undescribed disease in Japan)
Causal organism: Rhizoctonia sp., Imperfect fungi

Diseases of Switchgrass


Leaf blight (undescribed disease in Japan)
Causal organism: Exserohilum rostratum (Drechsler) Leonard et Suggs, Imperfect fungi

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