Rare symptoms and conidial variation in Septoria lycopersici in Zambia

Surveys during the rainy season of 1996 showed that Septoria lycopersici developed two different types of leaf spots on tomatoes grown in kitchen gardens at the University of Zambia Campus and in nearby gardens. The two types of spots could be easily distinguished on the basis of their external morphology. One type, designated as T1, began as dark brown spots of less than 1 mm diameter. Upon increase in size, the spots differentiated into a dark brown outer ring and a grey centre, reaching a maximum diameter of 5 mm. Spots of this type are common and have been described in reports on Septoria leaf spot disease. A second type of spot found in our survey was designated as T2. This Septoria spot was greyish brown with several concentric rings of shrunken leaf tissue. The type T2 spots were larger and did not differentiate into two parts as in T1. The T2 spot diameter was 4-12 mm. The conidia showed differences in curvature, and significantly length, between T1 and T2. The study has shown that S. lycopersici in Zambia is variable.