Alternative Hosts of Cercospora beticola in Field Surveys and Inoculation Trials

Cercospora beticola, the cause of Cercospora leaf spot (CLS) of sugar beet and table beet, has a broad range of potential alternative hosts. The role of these hosts as inoculum sources in the field is unclear and has had limited investigation since the advent of DNA-based pathogen identification. The presence of C. beticola on alternative hosts associated with table beet fields of New York was assessed in field surveys during 2016. Lesions were collected, and 71 cercosporoid conidia were isolated for phylogenetic comparison. C. beticola was identified from Solanum ptycanthum (n = 4), Chenopodium album (n = 2), and Spinacia oleracea (n = 1), whereas C. chenopodii was identified on Chenopodium album (n = 51). Artificial inoculation of 21 plants species demonstrated that C. beticola was pathogenic to Brassica kaber, Chenopodium album, Carthamus tinctorius, Rumex obtusifolius, and Spinacia oleracea. These results indicate that although C. beticola may be pathogenic to a range of plant species, the role of symptomatic tissue for inoculum production on alternative hosts in the field appears limited. Observations of C. beticola on necrotic and naturally senescent tissue suggest saprophytic survival on plant debris of a range of species, which has implications for CLS epidemics and disease management.