Curvularia sp. causes leaf spot to Citrullus lanatus (Watermelon)
ENTRY NO. 3
INTRODUCTION
Citrullus lannatus (Watermelon) is one of the important fruits in the Philippines that are eaten fresh as dessert. This flowering vine-like plant produced in places with warm climates, is composed of water, small amounts of minerals, protein, fats, carbohydrates, lycopenes, and vitamins, and like other fruit crops, requires proper disease management (Madrid et al., 2014). Growing watermelon has been one of the sources of livelihood of many farmers, moreover, several diseases caused by insect pest, viruses, bacteria, and fungi caused the decline of its yield. Fungal diseases affecting watermelon had been studied in years and several fungal pathogens had been found associated with it. However, in the Philippines, no further information about other diseases that infects this crop has been studied. Curvularia sp., a known plant pathogen, was isolated in C. lanatus in the present study. According to Liang et al. (2018), Curvularia sp. can cause severe or opportunistic diseases in different plant taxa. This genus is considered a threat to different agricultural products and is commonly known for causing leaf spot disease in some crops including Hippeastrum striatum. In a recent study, a species of Curvularia, C. lunata, was found associated with crown and root disease in watermelon, with a frequency of 1.25% and an appearance of 26.66%. In watermelon, this disease is one of the most prevalent diseases that causes economic loss in the crop worldwide. This disease is characterized by rotting in the crown and root cortex of watermelon that will eventually lead to the yellowing of old leaves and wilting of the whole shoot (Hussein and Juber, 2014).
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