First Report of Late Wilt Disease Caused by Magnaporthiopsis maydis on Maize in Republic of Türkiye

HomePlant DiseaseAhead of PrintFirst Report of Late Wilt Disease Caused by Magnaporthiopsis maydis on Maize in Republic of Türkiye PreviousNext DISEASE NOTE OPENOpen Access licenseFirst Report of Late Wilt Disease Caused by Magnaporthiopsis maydis on Maize in Republic of TürkiyeS. Yuceer, T. Talapov, A. Gormez, O. Dedecan, and C. CanS. YuceerBiological Control Research Institute, Adana, Turkiye, T. TalapovBiology Department, Gaziantep University, Gaziantep, Turkiye, A. GormezBiology Department, Gaziantep University, Gaziantep, Turkiye, O. Dedecanhttps://orcid.org/0000-0001-5804-4696Biology Department, Gaziantep University, Gaziantep, Turkiye, and C. Can†Corresponding author: C. Can; E-mail Address: [email protected]https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0473-1914Biology Department, Gaziantep University, Gaziantep, TurkiyeAffiliationsAuthors and Affiliations S. Yuceer1 T. Talapov2 A. Gormez2 O. Dedecan2 C. Can2 † 1Biological Control Research Institute, Adana, Turkiye 2Biology Department, Gaziantep University, Gaziantep, Turkiye Published Online:17 Oct 2025https://doi.org/10.1094/PDIS-12-24-2619-PDNAboutSectionsView articlePDFSupplemental ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack Citations Share on View article Maize is grown as a main crop in the Eastern Mediterranean region of Türkiye. To determine the main diseases affecting maize in these regions, plants with external symptoms such as general growth retardation, stem weakness, yellowing of leaves, and spike shrinkage were collected from Adana Province during May to June in 2020 to 2022. A total of 68.9 ha of land were examined, and the lower stem part of the 43 symptomatic plants was collected from four fields. Surface sterilization using 1.5% NaOCl was applied to root collars and stems showing disease symptoms. Surface-sterilized plant parts were incubated on potato dextrose agar (PDA) medium without antibiotics at 24 ± 2°C under a 12-h light/dark cycle. Three days after incubation, white fungal colonies developed at the edges of infected tissues, and hyphae developed into black-pigmented, sparse, branched, and collapsed mycelium. Fifteen conidia were measured for each of 24 single-spore isolates and were found to be hyaline, unicellular, and oblong, with a mean length of 11.4 ± 1.7 μm and a mean width of 4.75 ± 0.58 μm. The genomic DNA of 24 isolates was extracted and screened with Magnaporthiopsis maydis-specific primers (Saleh and Leslie 2004). A single band of approximately 200 and 330 bp in length was observed for the primer pairs A200 and CMaflp, respectively (El-Naggar 2019). The internal transcribed spacer (ITS; ITS4/ITS5) and largest subunit of RNA polymerase (RPB1; RPB1F/RPB1R) regions of three selected isolates were sequenced (Klaubauf et al. 2014; O'Donnell et al. 2015). BLAST analysis revealed that the ITS and RPB1 regions showed 100% identity (544/544 bp and 1,018/1,018 bp, respectively) with M. maydis (NCBI accession nos. OP890270, OP890271, and OP890272 for ITS; PQ605222, PQ605223, and PQ605224 for RPB1). Multilocus gene analysis was performed by combining the ITS and RPB1 gene regions. A phylogenetic tree was constructed using the neighbor-joining method using the Tamura-Nei model in the MEGAX software (version 10.2). Magnaporthaceae from the NCBI GenBank database clustered separately. For pathogenicity studies, a susceptible maize genotype (P31G98) was used to determine virulence levels. Maize seeds were sown in pots containing a mixture of peat, perlite, and sand (1:1:1). Two-week-old maize seedlings were inoculated by dipping the roots in a solution of 1 × 106 conidia/ml prepared from 10-day-old M. maydis colonies developed on PDA (Biles and Martyn 1989). Twenty-four isolates were tested in three pots, with each pot containing four seedlings. The pots were transferred to a controlled climate chamber (26 ± 2°C, 70% humidity, and a 12-h light/dark cycle). For the negative control, a total of 12 maize plants in three pots were inoculated with distilled water only. Four weeks after inoculation, growth retardation as well as stem and root necrosis were observed. Reisolations were performed from the stem and root parts of these plants on PDA medium, fulfilling Koch's postulates and developing fungal colonies examined morphologically. The experiments were repeated two times. This study aimed to identify the major diseases affecting maize crops in the major production regions of Türkiye and revealed, for the first time, the presence of M. maydis (syn. Harpophora maydis), the causal agent of late wilt disease in maize crops in Türkiye. These findings emphasize the need to develop effective management strategies to maintain maize health and reduce yield losses in the country. The author(s) declare no conflict of interest.References:Biles, C. L., and Martyn, R. D. 1989. Phytopathology 79:856. https://doi.org/10.1094/Phyto-79-856 CrossrefWeb of ScienceGoogle ScholarEl-Naggar, A. 2019. Egypt. J. Phytopathol. 47:277. https://doi.org/10.21608/ejp.2019.125538 CrossrefGoogle ScholarKlaubauf, S., et al. 2014. Stud. Mycol. 79:85. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.simyco.2014.09.004 CrossrefWeb of ScienceGoogle ScholarO'Donnell, K., et al. 2015. Phytoparasitica 43:583. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12600-015-0484-z CrossrefWeb of ScienceGoogle ScholarSaleh, A. A., and Leslie, J. F. 2004. Mycologia 96:1294. https://doi.org/10.2307/3762146 CrossrefWeb of ScienceGoogle Scholar Funding: Support was provided by Tarım Orman Bakanlığı (TAGEM/TBAD/Ü/18/A7/P9/1293). The author(s) declare no conflict of interest.DetailsFiguresLiterature CitedRelated Just PublishedSubscribeISSN:0191-2917e-ISSN:1943-7692 Metrics Article History Published: 17 Oct 2025Accepted: 10 Jun 2025 Information© 2025 The American Phytopathological Society. All rights reserved, including those for text and data mining, AI training, and similar technologies.FundingTarım Orman BakanlığıGrant/Award Number: TAGEM/TBAD/Ü/18/A7/P9/1293Keywordslate wiltMagnaporthiopsis maydismaizeZea maysThe author(s) declare no conflict of interest.PDF download