First report of leaf spot disease of culinary melon caused by Colletotrichum fructicola in India

摘要

Culinary melon (Cucumis melo var. acidulus L.) is an important commercial vegetable crop of India. In a survey carried out during 2013 in Thiruvananthapuram district of Kerala (India), culinary melon plants were observed exhibiting initially, water-soaked lesions on the leaves which later enlarged into necrotic greyish brown circular patches that covered the entire leaves. Infected leaves dried causing excessive defoliation of the diseased plants (Fig. 1). Symptoms of anthracnose are circular, dark,sunken lesions that coalesce under severe disease pressure (4). The purpose of this study is to describe the disease symptoms and to identify the causal fungus based on morphological characteristics and molecular ITS sequence.