Rhynchosporium Facesoffungi – Index Fungorum – Species Fungorum – Genera of fungi – Outline of Fungi – One stop shop fungi
Rhynchosporium was characterized for the first time by Oudemans (1897) as Marsonia secalis from rye in the Netherlands. Frank (1897) found the same disease on barley and rye in Germany caused by the same pathogen. Heinsen (1901) reclassified the fungus in Rhynchosporium based on its typical beak‐shaped, one‐septate spores, naming it Rhynchosporium graminicola.. Rhynchosporium species are classified into two groups based on conidial shape (King et al. 2013). Rhynchosporium commune, R. agropyri, and R. secalis are characterized by beak-shaped conidia while R. orthosporum and R. lolii have cylindrical conidia (King et al. 2013). All the species of this genus cause scald disease on gramineous plants (Fig. 1) (King et al. 2013).
Disease symptoms: Rhynchosporium commune causes scald disease which is characterized by typical lesions on leaves, ears and leaf sheaths. In the early stages, pale grey oval spots appear. With time, the margins of spots turn dark brown while the center of the spots stays pale green or pale brown. As the disease progress, the lesions merge and yellowing is observed in most parts of the leaves. If the leaf axil is infected, it will eventually lead to chlorosis and death of the leaf (Avrova and Knogge 2012).
Fig. 1 – Scald symptoms caused by Rhynchosporium commune on barley and uncultivated grasses. (a) barley (b) Hordeum murinum ssp. glaucum (c) Hordeum vulgare ssp. spontaneum (d) Lolium multiflorum.
References
Avrova A, Knogge W (2012) Rhynchosporium commune: a persistent threat to barley cultivation. Mol Plant Pathol 13:986–997. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1364-3703.2012.00811.x
Frank AB. (1897). Ueber die Zerstörung der Gerste durch einen neuen Getreidepilz. Wochenschrift für Brauerei 14(42): 518–520. https://scholar.google.com/scholar_lookup?journal=Wochenschrift+f%C3%BCr+Brauerei&title=Ueber+die+Zerst%C3%B6rung+der+Gerste+durch+
einen+neuen+Getreidepilz&author=AB+Frank&volume=14&issue=42&publication_year=1897&pages=518-520&
Heinsen E (1901) Beobachtungen uiber den neuen Getreidepilz Rhynchosporium graminicola. Jahrb d Hamburg wissenschaft Anstalten 3:43–55. https://www.jstor.org/stable/43222700
King KM, West JS, Brunner PC, et al (2013) Evolutionary relationships between Rhynchosporium lolii sp. nov. and other Rhynchosporium species on grasses.
PLoS One 8:e72536. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0072536
Oudemans CAJA (1897) Observations mycologiques. Konink Akad Wtensch Amsterdam 6:86–92