Life Cycle
Unlike most other plant pathogens, Mycosphaerella graminicola infects through stomata rather than by direct penetration and there is a long latent period of up to two weeks following infection before symptoms develop. The fungus evades host defenses during the latent phase, followed by a rapid switch to necrotrophy immediately prior to symptom expression 12–20 days after penetration. The period between infection and formation of sporulating structures (latent period) was estimated to be 20.35 ± 4.15 days for Mycosphaerella graminicola in Northern Germany and decreased with increasing temperature. Such a switch from biotrophic to necrotrophic growth at the end of a long latent period is an unusual characteristic shared by most fungi in the genus Mycosphaerella. Very little is known about the cause or mechanism of this lifestyle switch even though Mycosphaerella is one of the largest and most economically important genera of plant-pathogenic fungi.
It has been suggested that ascospores of Mycosphaerella graminicola have been spread with the prevailing wind (from west to east) over Europe.
Read more about this topic: Mycosphaerella Graminicola
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