Abstract
Recent agricultural expansion into regions of the Brazilian savannah or Cerrado has improved agricultural knowledge and management practices. Under this biome’s favorable conditions, the incidence of diseases such as gummy stem blight (GSB) could be a limiting factor for some crops (i.e., Cucumis melo L.), due to high losses in productivity and fruit quality. We conducted field experiments to assess the temporal progression of the incidence and severity of GSB disease in melon plants under five pesticide treatments and three growing seasons (dry, rainy, and transition periods). Furthermore, the susceptibility of six cultivars of melon to GSB was evaluated with and without pesticide application. In the dry season, although the incidence of the disease was high and dependent on the applied pesticides, its severity was low, allowing the crop cycle to be completed and marketable fruits to be harvested. However, in the rainy and transition periods, the high incidence and severity of the disease recorded in all plants, independent of the pesticides used, resulted in a premature end to the growth of the melon crops. Moreover, the commonly cultivated cultivar (Eldorado 300) showed a higher incidence and severity of the disease than the other potential cultivars. The results suggest that melon crops should be grown exclusively under the Brazilian Cerrado conditions during the dry season, dominated by favorable climatic conditions for the melon and unfavorable conditions to the pathogen. Other cultivars need to be investigated for their suitability to this region.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Anuário Brasileiro da Fruticultura. Santa Cruz do Sul: Gazeta, 2020. 51p. Availabel em: < http://www.editoragazeta.com.br/sitewp/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/HORTIFRUTI_2020.pdf.>. Acess: 25 mar. 2021.
Arny, C. J., & Rowe, R. C. (1991). Effects of temperature and duration of surface wetness on spore production and infection of cucumbers by Didymella bryoniae. Phytopathology, 81, 206–209.
Babadoost, M., & Zitter, T. A. (2009). Fruit rots of pumpkin: A serious threat to the pumpkin industry. Plant Disease, 93, 772–782.
Brewer, M. T., Rath, M., & Li, H. X. (2015). Genetic Diversity and Population Structure of Cucurbit Gummy Stem Blight Fungi Based on Microsatellite Markers. Phytophathology, 105, 815–824.
Café-Filho, A. C., Santos, G. R., & Laranjeira, F. F. (2010). Temporal and spatial dynamics of watermelon gummy stem blight epidemics. European journal of plant pathology, 128, 473–482.
Campbell, L., Luo, J., & Mercer, K. (2013). Effect of water availability and genetic diversity on flowering phenology, synchrony and reproductive investment in summer squash the. Journal of Agricultural Science, 151, 775–786.
Choi, I. Y., Choi, J. N., Choi, D. C., Sharma, P. K., & Lee, W. H. (2010). Identification and characterization of the causal organism of gummy stem blight in the muskmelon (Cucumis melo L.). Mycobiology, 38, 166–170.
Craufurd, P. Q., & Wheeler, T. R. (2009). Climate change and the flowering time of annual crops. Journal of Experimental botany, 60, 2529–2539.
Cresswell, J. E. (2000). Manipulation of female architecture in flowers reveals a narrow optimum for pollen deposition. Ecology, 81, 3244–3249.
do Nascimento Uchôa, C., Pozza, E. A., Albuquerque, K. S., & da Silva Moraes, W. (2012). Relação entre a temperatura e o molhamento foliar no monocíclo da sigatoka-negra. Summa Phytopathologica, 38, 144–147.
dos Santos, G. R., Café-Filho, A. C., Leão, F. F., César, M., & Fernandes, L. E. (2005). Progresso do crestamento gomoso e perdas na cultura da melancia1. Horticultura Brasileira, 23, 228–232.
dos Santos, G. R., de Castro Neto, M. D., de Almeida, H. S., Ramos, L. N., Sarmento, R. A., SDO, L., & EAL, E. (2009). Effect of nitrogen doses on disease severity and watermelon yield. Horticultura brasileira, 27, 330–334.
dos Santos, G. R., Leão, E. U., Gonçalves, C. G., & Cardon, C. H. (2013). Manejo da adubação potássica e da irrigação no progresso de doenças fúngicas e produtividade da melancia Potassium fertilizer and irrigation management in the progress of fungal diseases and yield of watermelon. Horticultura Brasileira, 31, 36–44.
Freitas, J. G., Crisóstomo, J. R., da Silva, F. P., Pitombeira, J. B., & Távora, F. J. A. F. (2007). Interação entre genótipo e ambiente em híbridos de melão Amarelo no Nordeste do Brasil. Revista Ciência Agronômica, 38, 176–181.
Guerra da Silva, A., Stremel Barros, A., & Carregal Pereira da Silva, L. (2009). Avaliacao de cultivares de sorgo granífero na safrinha no sudoeste do estado de Goiás. Pesquisa Agropecuária Tropical, 39, 168–174.
Institute S. (2008) SAS/STAT® 9.2 user’s guide. SAS Institute Inc Cary, NC, USA,
Keinath, A., Farnham, M., & Zitter, T. (1995). Morphological, pathological, and genetic differentiation of Didymella bryoniae and Phoma spp. isolated from cucurbits. Phytopathology, 85, 364–369.
Keinath AP (1995) Fungicide timing for optimum management of gummy stem blight epidemics on watermelon plant disease (USA).
Keinath, A. P. (2000). Effect of protectant fungicide application schedules on gummy stem blight epidemics and marketable yield of watermelon. Plant Disease, 84, 254–260.
Keinath, A. P. (2001). Effect of fungicide applications scheduled to control gummy stem blight on yield and quality of watermelon fruit. Plant Disease, 85, 53–58.
Keinath, A. P. (2008). Survival of Didymella bryoniae in infested muskmelon crowns in South Carolina. Plant Disease, 92, 1223–1228.
Keinath, A. P. (2014a). Differential susceptibility of nine cucurbit species to the foliar blight and crown canker phases of gummy stem blight. Plant Disease, 98, 247–254.
Keinath, A. P. (2014b). Reproduction of Didymella bryoniae on nine species of cucurbits under field conditions. Plant Disease, 98, 1379–1386.
Kothera, R. T., Keinath, A. P., & Farnham, M. W. (2003). AFLP analysis of a worldwide collection of Didymella bryoniae, Mycological Research., 107, 297–304.
Li, P. F., Ren, R. S., Yao, X. F., Xu, J. H., Babu, B., Paret, M. L., & Yang, X. P. (2015). Identification and Characterization of the Causal Agent of Gummy Stem Blight from Muskmelon and Watermelon in East C hina. Journal of Phytopathology, 163, 314–319.
Landau, E. C., Marques, E. D. C., Cavalieri, I. P. C., & da Silva, G. A. (2020). Evolução da produção de melão (Cucumis melo, Cucurbitaceae). Embrapa Milho e Sorgo-Capítulo em livro científico (ALICE).
Oliveira, F. I. C. da; Grageiro, L. C.; Negreiros, M. Z. de; Nunes, G. H. S de; Aragão, F. A. S de. (2017) Sistema de produção de melão no polo agrícola Jaguaribe-Açu. In: Figueirêdo, M. C. B. de; Gondim, R. S.; Aragão, F. A. S. de (Ed.). Produção de melão e mudanças climáticas: sistemas conservacionistas de cultivo para redução das pegadas de carbono e hídrica. Brasília, DF: Embrapa. p. 45–76.
Palumbo, J. C., Toscano, N. C., Blua, M. J., & Yoshida, H. A. (2000). Impact of Bemisia whiteflies (Homoptera: Aleyrodidae) on alfalfa growth, forage yield, and quality. Journal of Economic Entomology, 93, 1688–1694.
Queiroga, R., Puiatti, M., Fontes, P. C. R., Cecon, P. R., & Finger, F. L. (2007). Influência de doses de nitrogênio na produtividade e qualidade do melão Cantalupensis sob ambiente protegido. Horticultura Brasileira, 25, 550–556.
Rennberger, G., & Keinath, A. P. (2018). Susceptibility of fourteen new cucurbit species to gummy stem blight caused by Stagonosporopsis citrulli under field conditions. Plant Disease, 102, 1365–1375.
Shaner, G., & Finney, R. (1977). The effect of nitrogen fertilization on the expression of slow-mildewing resistance in Knox wheat. Phytopathology, 67, 1051–1056.
Sobrinho RBGJA; Araújo, E.L.; Moreira, M.A.B.; MEesquita, A.L.M. (2011) Manejo integrado de pragas do meloeiro. http://www.cnpat.embrapa.br/ download_publicacao.php?id=333. Accessed 10 jun. 2014.
Solga, M. J., Harmon, J. P., & Ganguli, A. C. (2014). Timing is everything: an overview of phenological changes to plants and their pollinators. Natural Areas Journal, 34, 227–235.
Sousa, S. C. R., dos Santos, G. R., Rodrigues, A. C., Bonifácio, A., Dalcin, M. S., & Juliatti, F. C. (2014). Escala diagramática para avaliação da severidade do crestamento gomoso do caule em melancia. Bioscience Journal, 30, 1314–1324.
Stewart, J. E., Turner, A. N., & Brewer, M. T. (2015). Evolutionary history and variation in host range of three Stagonosporopsis species causing gummy stem blight of cucurbits. Fungal Biology, 119, 370–382.
Tschoeke, P. H., Oliveira, E. E., Dalcin, M. S., Silveira-Tschoeke, M. C. A., & Santos, G. R. (2015). Diversity and flower-visiting rates of bee species as potential pollinators of melon (Cucumis melo L.) in the Brazilian Cerrado. Scientia Horticulturae, 186, 207–216.
Tschoeke, P. H., Oliveira, E. E., Dalcin, M. S., Silveira-Tschoeke, M. C. A., Sarment, R. A., & Santos, G. R. (2019). Botanical and synthetic pesticides alter the flower visitation rates of pollinator bees in Neotropical melon fields. Environmental Pollution, 251, 591–599.
Tsutsumi, C. Y., & Silva, N. D. (2004). Screening of melon populations for resistance to Didymella bryoniae in greenhouse and plastic tunnel conditions. Brazilian Archives of Biology and Technology, 47, 171–177.
Van Steekelenburg, N. A. (1985). Influence of humidity on incidence of Didymella bryoniae on cucumber leaves and growing tips under controlled environmental conditions. European Journal Of Plant Pathology, 91, 277–283.
Van Steekelenburg, N. A. (1986). Factors influencing internal fruit rot of cucumber caused by Didymella bryoniae. European Journal Of Plant Pathology, 92, 81–91.
Williams NMTJD (2001) Pollinator quality in native bees and honey bees:Comparing pollen removal and deposition on Phacelia tanacetifolia. In: Strickler K, cane, J.H. (Eds.), (ed) for non-native crops, whence the pollinators of the future? Entomological Society of America, Lanham, MD, USA, pp 163–179.
Zhang, Y., Kyle, M., Anagnostou, K., & Zitter, T. A. (1997). Screening melon (Cucumis melo) for resistance to gummy stem blight in the greenhouse and field. HortScience, 32, 117–121.
Zittter T, Keinath AP (1996) Compendium of cucurbit diseases aps press, st Paul.
Acknowledgements
This study was supported in part by Federal University of Tocantins, Brazil By the CAPES Foundation (Financial code 001) and the National Council of Scientific Technological Development (CNPq).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Contributions
G.R.S. conceived, projected and guided the experiments besides the article description; P.H.T. realized the experiments, analyzed the data and wrote the article; R.A.S., E.E.O., N.R.S. analyzed the data and wrote the article; M.S.D. realized the experiments; K.H analyzed the data and wrote the article; R.S.S and E.E.O re-view & editing.
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflict of interest
The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest.
Informed consent
The authors of this manuscript accept that the paper is submitted for publication in the European Journal of Plant Pathology and report that this paper has not been published or accepted for publication in another journal, and it is not being considered for publication in another journal.
Supplementary Information
ESM 1
(DOCX 709 kb)
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
dos Santos, G.R., Tschoeke, P.H., Sarmento, R.A. et al. Impact of growing seasons and pesticides used on the occurrence and severity of the gummy stem blight in melon cultivation in Brazil. Eur J Plant Pathol 161, 171–184 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10658-021-02312-w
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10658-021-02312-w