Tan spot is caused by Pyrenophora tritici-repentis and is an economically important foliar disease of wheat worldwide. The fungus produces two types of symptoms, necrosis and chlorosis, on susceptible wheat cultivars. Isolates have been grouped into five races based on their ability to induce necrosis (nec+) and chlorosis (chl+) on appropriate wheat differentials (1,2). During March 2000, foliar diseases of wheat were surveyed in major wheat-growing areas of the Punjab Province of Pakistan. Tan spot was observed at 13 locations in the province. Diseased leaf samples were collected from all 13 locations to satisfy Koch's postulates. Isolations were made by placing 2-cm-long diseased leaf pieces in petri dishes with three layers of dampened Whatman No. 1 filter paper. The leaf pieces were incubated under an alternating cycle of 24 h of light at 21°C and 24 h of dark at 16°C. A fungus that produced erect, single dark yellow-brown conidiophores with single light yellow-brown conidia was recovered from all the samples and identified as Drechslera tritici-repentis, the anamorph of Pyrenophora tritici-repentis. Single spores were transferred on V8 potato dextrose agar for further study. Seven single spore isolates recovered from the samples were imported through APHIS and tested for pathogenicity and race structure in a growth chamber at North Dakota State University. Two-week-old seedlings of wheat differentials were inoculated individually with a spore suspension of each isolate, and consistent results were found in four replicated experiments. Four of seven isolates were identified as race 1 (nec+chl+), whereas, three isolates did not correspond to any of the currently identified five races. For all these isolates, one of the differentials (Katepwa), which exhibits necrosis, chlorosis, or neither symptom to the five described races, showed both necrosis and chlorosis. This is the first report of the occurrence of tan spot of wheat in Pakistan. The widespread presence of tan spot in the region is a potential threat to wheat production.
References: (1) De Wolf et al. Can. J. Plant Pathol. 20:349, 1998. (2). Lamari et al. Can. J. Plant Pathol. 17:312, 1995.
