- Worldwide distribution. A primary pathogen on tobacco, but a wound pathogen of many others. A minor fungal disease.
- Leaf spots, small, round at first, expanding as leaves mature, up 25 mm diameter, zoned, first on the lower leaves. Spots merge, and centres fall out. Upper leaves infected on susceptible varieties.
- Spread by airborne spores, or spores splashed by water onto lower leaves; spread by seed containing infected leaf pieces. Survival in plant debris.
- Cultural control: note similarity with tobacco frog-eye (see Fact Sheet no. 304); resistant varieties; check nursery plants free from disease; avoid overlapping crops, or plant far from crops with disease; avoid overhead irrigation; weed; remove volunteers; remove infected leaves; apply balanced NPK; collect and destroy debris after harvest; crop rotation.
- Chemical control: use mancozeb, copper or chlorothanonil.
Pacific Pests, Pathogens and Weeds - Online edition
Pacific Pests, Pathogens, Weeds & Pesticides
Tobacco brown spot (306)
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Summary
Common Name
Tobacco brown spot
Scientific Name
Alternaria longipes. Note, that some accounts give the name of brown spot on tobacco as Alternaria alternata.
AUTHORS Grahame Jackson & Eric McKenzie
Information from Dingley JM, et al. (1981) Survey of agricultural pests and diseases. Technical Report. Volume 2. Records of fungi, bacteria, algae and angiosperms pathogenic on plants in Cook Islands, Fiji, Kiribati, Niue, Tonga, Tuvalu and Western Samoa. FAO, Rome, Italy; and from Brown spot (Alternaria longipes) Plantwise Knowledge Bank. (http://www.plantwise.org/KnowledgeBank/Datasheet.aspx?dsid=4514). Photos 1&2 R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company Slide Set, R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company, Bugwood.org.
Produced with support from the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research under project PC/2010/090: Strengthening integrated crop management research in the Pacific Islands in support of sustainable intensification of high-value crop production, implemented by the University of Queensland and the Secretariat of the Pacific Community.
