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Present status of bacterial blight in cotton genotypes evaluated at Busia and Siaya counties of Western Kenya

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Abstract

Bacterial blight (BB) incited by Xanthomonas citri subsp. malvacearum (Xcm) is an important bacterial disease occurring in all cotton growing areas throughout the world, including parts of Western Kenya, that are characterized by a hot and humid climate. The disease causes seedling blight, angular leaf spot, boll rot and black arm on petioles and branches leading to a loss of fruiting branches with yield losses of up to 35 %. Fifty- one Kenyan cotton genotypes (Gossypium hirsutum L.) were established in the two counties of Siaya and Busia famous for their cotton cultivation in the western region. The BB symptoms caused by natural Xcm infection in the field were scored for each cotton accession. In addition artificial inoculation with the same strains was done to confirm the status under controlled greenhouse conditions. The results of BB disease scoring revealed that some accessions (e.g. T 24A and T 24B) possess a reasonable level of resistance. However, most of the Kenyan genotypes surveyed showed medium to severe symptoms of BB, including KSA 81 M, the only commercially grown cultivar in the region of Western Kenya. Overall, 71 % of the genotypes showed susceptibility and 29 % were classified as either resistant or moderately resistant. There is therefore need to improve the local commercial genotypes by introducing new genetic resources with a more durable BB resistance to ensure a successful revitalization of the Kenyan cotton sector.

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Abbreviations

Avr :

Avirulence

BB:

Bacterial blight

CODA:

Cotton development authority

HVS:

Highly virulent strains

Xcm :

Xanthomonas citri subsp. malvacearum

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Acknowledgments

The study reported here was financially supported by Moi University VLIR – UOS project activity funds (Flemish Interuniversity Council - department for University Cooperation for Development) through sponsorship of Kennedy Chepkurui Pkania for PhD studies in Ghent University Belgium and Jolien Venneman for Master thesis research in Kenya. Special thanks go to Kenya Agricultural Research Institute (KARI) Mwea Tebere and Muguga for provision of cotton germplasm seeds used in this study.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Bioscience Engineering, Department of Applied Biosciences, Ghent University, Valentin Vaerwyckweg 1, 9000, Ghent, Belgium

    Kennedy Chepkurui Pkania, Jolien Venneman, Kris Audenaert & Geert Haesaert

  2. University of Eldoret, P.O. Box 1125, 30100, Eldoret, Kenya

    Kennedy Chepkurui Pkania & Oliver Kiplagat

  3. Faculty of Bioscience Engineering, Department of Molecular Biotechnology, Ghent University, Coupure Links 653, 9000, Ghent, Belgium

    Godelieve Gheysen

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  1. Kennedy Chepkurui Pkania
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  2. Jolien Venneman
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  3. Kris Audenaert
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  4. Oliver Kiplagat
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  5. Godelieve Gheysen
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  6. Geert Haesaert
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Correspondence to Jolien Venneman.

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Kennedy Chepkurui Pkania and Jolien Venneman contributed equally to this work

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Pkania, K.C., Venneman, J., Audenaert, K. et al. Present status of bacterial blight in cotton genotypes evaluated at Busia and Siaya counties of Western Kenya. Eur J Plant Pathol 139, 863–874 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10658-014-0440-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10658-014-0440-7

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