Erysiphe cruciferarum
| Erysiphe cruciferarum | |
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| Erysiphe communis [sic], illustration from M. Cilenšek: Naše škodljive rastline (1892) | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Fungi |
| Phylum: | Ascomycota |
| Class: | Leotiomycetess |
| Subclass: | Leotiomycetidae |
| Order: | Erysiphales |
| Family: | Erysiphaceae |
| Genus: | Erysiphe |
| Species: | E. cruciferarum |
| Binomial name | |
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Erysiphe cruciferarum Opiz ex L. Junell, (1967) |
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| Synonyms | |
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Erysiphe cruciferarum is a plant pathogen of the family Erysiphaceae, that causes the main powdery mildew of crucifers, including on Brassica crops, such as cauliflower, cabbage, broccoli, and Brussels sprouts.E. cruciferarum is distributed worldwide, and is of particular concentration in continental Europe and the Indian subcontinent.E. cruciferarum is an ascomycete fungus that has both sexual and asexual stages. It is also an obligate parasite that appears to have host specificity; for example, isolates from turnip will not infect Brussels sprout, and vice versa. While being a part of the Erysiphaceae family, it belongs to those members in which the conidia are formed singly and whose haustoria are multilobed.
It is also being evaluated as a potential biological control for the invasive plant garlic mustard.
Erysiphe cruciferarum exhibits typical powdery mildew characteristics, appearing as small radiating, diffuse colonies of superficial white mycelium on the surface of the leaf; usually both sides of the leaf show white, powdery fungal growth. Additional signs of the pathogen would be that its conidia are singly produced (not in chains) and are ovoid to cylindrical in shape, ranging from 42.5–57 µm × 14.5–20.5 µm in size. Also, E. cruciferarum has rather variable appressoria, differing from lobed to simple, and haustoria that are multilobed. Severe, advanced infections produce a dense white powdery covering of leaves, stems, and seed crop pods. On cauliflower and cabbage, heavily diseased plants show chlorosis, early defoliation, and necrosis of the tips of young leaves. Colonies may be gray and restricted in size on resistant cultivars as the host reaction produces black speckling beneath the colony. On Brussels sprout, gray or purple symptoms occur on the stems, while on the sprouts there may be white colonies or fine black speckling in radiating lines.
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