The infection process of Colletotrichum truncatum on lentil

Abstract

The fungus Colletotrichum truncatum (Schw.) Andrus and Moore causes lentil anthracnose, which is a major challenge to lentil production in Western Canada. The pathogen infects leaves and stems, resulting in defoliation, stem girdling, plant wilting, and possibly plant death. Two races, Ct0 and Ct1, have been identified in the pathogen population in Canada. However, the differences in the infection process between the two races have not been described in detail. Currently, several lentil cultivars, such as CDC Redberry, CDC Robin, CDC Rosetown, CDC Rouleau, and CDC Viceroy, have resistance against race Ct1, whereas there are no cultivars showing resistance to race Ct0. The objective of this study was to investigate differences in the infection process between race Ct0 and race Ct1 using the fully susceptible cultivar Eston and the race Ct1-resistant cultivar CDC Robin. Experiments on glass well slides showed that race Ct0 had no inherently different conidium germination rate compared to race Ct1, and that differences in conidium germination between the two races on lentil plants were the result of specific interactions between the two races and lentil resistance. Investigations of the infection process of the two races on detached and attached leaves of both lentil cultivars were conducted starting 12 h postinoculation (hpi) until 72 hpi, including conidium germination, appressorium formation, and leaf penetration. Results indicated that differences in virulence of the two races may be related to the ability of conidia to germinate and form appressoria, as well as the ability of primary infection hyphae to grow in response to cues from the lentil cultivars. Furthermore, resistance of lentil to isolates of race Ct1 appeared to involve an inhibition in and/or delay of the spread of primary infection hyphae inside the plant tissue. Results of infection studies of one isolate from each race on attached leaves did not completely agree with results of the same isolates on detached leaves. Based on this study, race Ct0 and race Ct1 do not appear to be classical physiological races, but may represent aggressive races or some intermediate forms.