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COPYRIGHT 2005 Adams Business Media
By Grey Leaf Spot (GLS), caused by the fungus Pyricularia grisea, is a major disease of turf grass that appeared in epidemic proportions in 2003 in California on both perennial ryegrass and kikuyugrass. The occurrence of this disease on a new host (kikuyugrass), on a new life stage of turf (mature perennial ryegrass plants) and under and conditions that would not have been predicted by current disease models presents a unique opportunity to learn more about its host range, biology, environmental requirements and control.
The information obtained from this study both is needed for developing sound GLS management in California and can be put into immediate use by superintendents across the country in terms of improved forecasting of disease occurrence, timing preventive management strategies, selecting the optimal control measures and identifying fungicide resistant disease populations. Additionally, superintendents in the southwest and Hawaii who manage either kikuyugrass or overseeded perennial ryegrass will gain additional benefits through better characterization of GLS under their unique combination of environmental and turf type conditions.
The disease has been known to occur in the U.S. on St. Augustine grass since 1957 (Malca 1957) and on annual ryegrass since the 1970s (Bain 1972, Carver 1972). It was only identified as causing disease on perennial ryegrass fairways since 1991 (Landschoot 1992) and since then has caused severe losses on perennial ryegrass fairways in the mid-Atlantic states and has been observed in the mid-Western and New England states. Although known to be present in California on St. Augustine grass since the 1970s (Mueller 1972), the disease had not been reported on perennial ryegrass until 2001 (Uddin 2002) and only reported on kikuyugrass in 2003.
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