Abstract

INTERACTION OF ANTHROPOGENIC POLLUTANT WITH DISEASE INCIDENCE IN A HIGH ALTITUDE AMARYLLIDES AND ITS CONTROL.

Ankita Sen*, Susmita Ghosh, Arkaprabha Banerjee, Spandan Bhowmik, Ria Basu Roy and Dr.Arup Kumar Mitra

Abstract

The plant Hippeastrum vittatum of Amaryllidaceae family, growing exclusively at a high altitude, near Mansar Lake, Jammu(North India), showed a characteristic infective lesions. Here, the mechanism of disease initiation in leaves, its stimulating cause and correlated metal interaction was studied, with the aim of suggesting an effective control. Infection is a natural phenomenon: which may be due to air-borne fungal spore and increased anthropogenicity, including significant bloom in Tourism in the recent years, thus affecting the vegetation cover in the Lake vicinity. The total disease incidence on the leaf was found to be 20%-30% and fungal pathogen Alternaria spp. was isolated from the leaf. Analysis of the phyllosphere pollutant revealed detectable concentrations of Copper and Zinc. Metal tolerance of the same fungi was performed and percentage germination was studied. Verification of Koch’s postulate, showed a 3.34 mm2 increase in disease lesion area on the leaf and the least reduction in spore frequency in case of Copper but 77% reduction in spore frequency in case of Zinc. This showed that Copper accelerated the growth of the fungus, while zinc massively regressed it. Hence, an unique antagonistic metal-spore interaction was studied. To suggest for a control, test fungicides Blitox and Bavistin were used. Fungicide bioassay demonstrated that Blitox at 1500ppm was effective in controlling spore germination. Since, Zinc also showed reduction in fungal infectivity, it can be a potent control. Precisely, our studies suggest, that effective concentrations of fungicide and zinc can protect the plant from anthropogenicity caused disease incidence.

Keywords: Alternaria spp, anthropogenic, fungicide, Hippeastrum vittatum, Mansar Lake, metals.