Septoria tritici is the causal agent of S. tritici leaf blotch, a foliar disease of wheat, and occasionally infects other grasses including barley. It is found in all wheat growing areas of the world[1] and is the major disease of wheat in the UK.[2]
The teleomorph is Mycosphaerella graminicola (Fuckel) Schröter
Asexual state: Pycnidiospores are hyaline and threadlike and measure 1.7-3.4 x 39-86 μm, with 3 to 7 indistinct septations. Germiniation of pycnidiospores can be lateral or terminal. Cirrhi are milky white to buff. Sometimes in culture nonseptate, hyaline microspores, measuring 1-1.3 x 5-9 μm, occur outside pycnidia by yeastlike budding.[3]
Sexual state: Perithecia are subepidermal, globose, dark brown, and 68-114 μm in diameter. Asci measure 11-14 x 30-40 μm. Ascospores are hyaline, elliptical, and 2.5-4 x 9-16 μm, with two cells of unequal length.[3]
Epidemiology
The period between infection and formation of sporulating structures (latent period) was estimated to be 20.35 ± 4.15 days for S. tritici and decreased with increasing temperature. [4]
^ ab Wiese, M.V. (1987). Compendium of wheat diseases. American Phytopathological Society, 124.
^ Henze M, Beyer M, Klink H, Verreet J-A (2007): Characterizing meteorological scenarios favorable for Septoria tritici infections in wheat and estimation of latent periods. Plant Disease 91: 1445-1449. [1]
