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An assessment of Pythium spp. associated with soft rot disease of ginger (Zingiber officinale) in Queensland, Australia

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Abstract

In Australia, Pythium soft rot (PSR) outbreaks caused by P. myriotylum were reported in 2009 and since then this disease has remained as a major concern for the ginger industry. From 2012 to 2015, a number of Pythium spp. were isolated from ginger rhizomes and soil from farms affected by PSR disease and assessed for their pathogenicity on ginger. In this study, 11 distinct Pythium spp. were recovered from ginger farms in Queensland, Australia and species identification and confirmation were based on morphology, growth rate and ITS sequences. These Pythium spp. when tested showed different levels of aggressiveness on excised ginger rhizome. P. aphanidemartum, P. deliense, P. myriotylum, P. splendens, P. spinosum and P. ultimum were the most pathogenic when assessed in vitro on an array of plant species. However, P. myriotylum was the only pathogen, which was capable of inducing PSR symptoms on ginger at a temperature range from 20 to 35 °C. Whereas, P. aphanidermatum only attacked and induced PSR on ginger at 30 to 35 °C in pot trials. This is the first report of P. aphanidermatum inducing PSR of ginger in Australia at high temperatures. Only P. oligandrum and P. perplexum, which had been recovered only from soils and not plant tissue, appeared non-pathogenic in all assays.

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Acknowledgments

This work is a part of ‘Pythium spp. on ginger in Australia’ project funded by Rural Industries Research and Development Corporation (PRJ-008410) in conjunction with the Australian Ginger Growers Association. We greatly thank Mr. Rob Abbas from Rob Abbas Consulting Pty. Ltd. for sampling diseased ginger; Dr. David Teakle (retired) for critical reading the manuscript. The first author also wants to thank Australian Endeavour Awards for rewarding a PhD scholarship.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Agriculture and Food Sciences, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, 4072, Australia

    Duy Phu Le & Elizabeth A. B. Aitken

  2. Maroochy Research Station, Queensland Department of Agriculture and Fisheries, Nambour, 4560, Australia

    Mike K. Smith

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  1. Duy Phu Le
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  2. Mike K. Smith
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  3. Elizabeth A. B. Aitken
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Correspondence to Duy Phu Le.

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Le, D.P., Smith, M.K. & Aitken, E.A.B. An assessment of Pythium spp. associated with soft rot disease of ginger (Zingiber officinale) in Queensland, Australia. Australasian Plant Pathol. 45, 377–387 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13313-016-0424-5

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