Incidence and ultramicroscopic characterization of Cerotelium fici (castagne) rust in Ficus carica L.

Abstract

The aim of the research was to identify the emerging rust disease in fig cultivation. In commercial orchards in the Western Ghats of Tamil Nadu, India, trees infected with rust exhibited reddish-brown angular leaf spots on their upper surfaces while their lower leaf surfaces contained numerous orange to reddish, rust pustules. An intensive survey was conducted to determine the incidence and severity of rust in fig orchards of the different districts of the Western Ghats and found that the incidence was very severe (100 %) in Pannaikadu, Dindigul district. To confirm the pathogen and its infection module, scanning electron microscopy was used to analyze these rust pustules and their anatomy. Based on the microscopy study, the subjected pathogen was identified as Cerotelium fici, this is the first detailed report of C. fici infection on fig plants in India.