Rank Species Subclass Pleosporomycetidae | Scientific name Alternaria alternata Higher classification Alternaria | |
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Similar Alternaria, Cladosporium, Cladosporium herbarum, Alternaria solani, Penicillium | ||
Alternaria alternata fungi kingdom
Alternaria alternata is a fungus which has been recorded causing leaf spot and other diseases on over 380 host species of plant. It is an opportunistic pathogen on numerous hosts causing leaf spots, rots and blights on many plant parts.
Contents
It can also cause upper respiratory tract infections and asthma in humans with compromised immunity.
Disease cycle
There is no known teleomorph for Alternaria alternata. As a result, this pathogen propagates itself via asexual spores called conidia. These conidia are produced in lesions on mature or dying leaves. Their production can begin in as few as ten days after the first symptoms appear, and can continue for to up to fifty days. A. alternata’s conidia disperse via air currents, and their release from the lesions can be triggered by rainfall, or even just a sudden drop in humidity. When the conidium lands on a leaf, it will wait until the nighttime dew, and then germinate. It can either enter through the stomata, or penetrate directly through the top of the leaf, using its appressorium, infecting the leaf within 12 hours.
Teleomorph
Unknown
Anamorph
Conidiophore
Conidia
