Basidiophora entospora. [Descriptions of Fungi and Bacteria].
Abstract A description is provided for Basidiophora entospora. Information is included on the disease caused by the organism, its transmission, geographical distribution, and hosts. HOSTS: Aster chilensis, A. cordifolius, A. douglasii, A. novae-angliae, A. novi-belgii, A. oblongifolius, A. puniceus, A. sagittifolius, Callistephus chinensis, Conyza bonariensis, C. canadensis, Erigeron philadelphicus, Felicia bergeriana, Rudbeckia speciosa, Solidago rigida. DISEASE: Downy mildew of asters. Seedlings in flats and plants in the open may be attacked. On Aster novae-angliae the fungus tends to infect along the midrib and the adjacent lamina becomes yellow and finaly brown. All lower leaves on these plants may die. The sporangiophores develop on the undersurface of these leaves and form a sparse white covering. The degree and type of infection differs with the host plant and on a variety of Aster novi-belgii the disease symptoms were recorded as lesions which spread diffusely over the leaf surface and showed very little necrosis (24, 5). Laboratory inoculations with spores of B. entospora showed it to be very pathogenic on leaves and stems of King asters (Callistephus chinensis) while flowers were not infected. The foliage of Chrysanthemum morifolium 'White Iceberg' was not susceptible to B. entospora (48, 328). GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION: Asia (Iraq); Australasia (New Zealand); Europe (Britain, France, Germany, Hungary, Poland, Romania); N. America (Canada, USA); S. America (Ecuador). TRANSMISSION: No reports, but presumably by resting spores, which are formed freely in infected leaves, being carried in plant debris to the soil. In Canada the pathogen is found on the wild Aster cordifolius which may act as a reservoir of infection.