Question

Cephaleuros, which causes “red rust of tea” is a:
A) Red algae
B) Brown algae
C) Dinoflagellate
D) Green algae

Answer 1

Hint:Red rust of tea is the major and only algal disease of tea plants. If not controlled, it can affect the production of fresh tea leaves by about 30-50%. The plant infected by red rust is damaged by formation of oval or oblong shaped patches on the stem and leaves of that plant. The disease can affect both young and old tea plants.

Complete answer:
The red rust of tea is a disease in which tea plants get infected with a green algae of genus Cephaleuros. The disease is also known as algal leaf spot, algal fruit spot, and green scurf. The green algae is a photosynthetic algae and contains chlorophyll pigments, which provides them green colour.
The alga, Cephaleuros is a member order, Chlorophyta, the order of green algae. Cephaleuros species are parasitic in nature. The common symptoms for the infection are development of reddish brown, purple circular patches on leaves.
The favourable conditions for the algal growth are bright sunshine, humid climate and high temperature.Some of the control measures include protecting plants from direct sunshine, keeping adequate spacing between two plants and spraying fungicides.
Hence, the correct answer is option (D).
Note:The name of the disease is ‘Red Rust of tea 'which is quite confusing for students as students may think that it is caused by red algae, due to the name of the disease. The disease red rust of tea is not only limited to tea plants only, but can infect other plants like coffee, mango, citrus and guava.