Question

Red rot of sugarcane is produced by
a. Phytophthora
b. Cercospora
c. Albugo
d. Colletotrichum

Answer 1

Hint: Red rot of sugarcane disease is caused by Colletotrichum falcate Went. Red rot is a very serious and dangerous disease present in sugarcane. The surest symptom of the problem is the reddening of the internal intermodal tissues along with crossbars of white patches in the reddened area. The red color is caused by a dye which is secreted by the host as well as is antagonistic to the red rot fungus.

Complete answer:
> Option – A.
Phytophthora is a genus of microorganisms present in the Stramenopile kingdom which includes water molds, diatoms as well as brown algae. Phytophthora species resemble the true fungi because they grow by means of fine filaments, also known as hyphae, and produce spores.

> Option – B.
Cercospora is a form genus of imperfect fungi present in family Dematiaceae that are leaf parasites with long slender multiseptate spores.

> Option – C.
Albugo is a genus of plant-parasitic oomycetes. The organism causes white rust or white blister diseases in above-ground plant tissues such as sugarcane.

> Option – D.
Colletotrichum is a genus of fungi that are symbionts to plant species as endophytes that are living within the plant or also said to be phytopathogens. Many of the species in this genus are plant pathogens, but some species may have a mutuality relationship with the host plant.

Hence, The correct answer is option (D).

Note: Red rot of sugarcane is a severe and harmful illness traced in sugarcane. It is caused by Colletotrichum falcate. The mycelium of the fungus infects the parenchymatous cells of the host plant. The pathogen enters through the nodes at the leaf scars, and move their way through any kind of wound, and then through root primordial as well as seed-cuttings. It produces conidia which grow into mycelium and it infects the host plant.