First report of powdery mildew caused by Erysiphe cruciferarum on Arabidopsis thaliana in Korea

In November 2008, typical powdery mildew symptoms were observed on leaves of Arabidopsis thaliana ecotype Col-0 plants in a growth room under controlled laboratory conditions at Korea University, Seoul. The disease was characterized by the appearance of white powder-like fungal growth on the surface of infected leaves. As the disease progressed, infected leaves exhibited chlorotic or necrotic brown lesions, and leaf distortion and senescence. Conidiophores of the causal fungus were hyaline, unbranched, 3-4 celled, cylindrical, and 80-115×6-9 μm in size. Singly produced conidia (pseudoidium type) were hyaline, oblong to cylindrical or oval in shape, and 26-55 × 15-20 μm in size with a length/width ratio of average 3, angular/rectangular wrinkling of outer wall and no distinct fîbrosin bodies. Appressoria on the hyphae were multi-lobed. These structures are typical of the powdery mildew Oidium subgenus Pseudoidium, ana-morph of the genus Erysiphe. The measurements of the fungal structures coincided with those of Erysiphe cruciferarum. The phylogenetic analysis using ITS rDNA sequences revealed that the causal fungus Erysiphe sp. KUS-F23994 is identical to E. cruciferarum. The isolated fungus incited powdery mildew symptoms on the inoculated Arabidopsis leaves, which proved Koch's postulates. Taken all data together, we first report the occurrence of powdery mildew disease of A. thaliana caused by Erysiphe cruciferarum in Korea.