Identification and characterization of Epicoccum sorghinum causing leaf spot on sorghum in China

Sorghum[Sorghum bicolor (L.)Moench] is one of the most important food crops and also used as forage, brewing and industrial raw materials in China. In recent years, during field surveys a new leaf spot was detected on sorghum plants in Liaoning Province, China. The pathogen was isolated used a conventional pathogen isolation method and identified by its morphology cultural characters and phylogenetic analysis of the combined genes including the internal transcribed spacer (ITS), β-tubulin (TUB) and Large subunit (LSU) sequences, respectively. Based on morphological characteristics and phylogenetic analyses, the pathogenic fungus was identified as Epicoccum sorghinum. Pathogenicity test was confirmed by inoculating sorghum cultivars under greenhouse conditions. This study is the first time to confirmed E. sorghinum as the causal agent of the disease in China, and this disease represents a potential threat to sorghum productivity in China.