New record of occurrence of Athelia rolfsii (Syn. Sclerotium rolfsii) in seedlings of sugarcane

Sugarcane germplasm maintained at ICAR-Sugarcane Breeding Institute, Research Centre, is one of the largest collections in the world. Recently, it was observed that sugarcane germplasm [few clones of S. officinarum (28 NG 36, IJ 76 560), hybrids derived from foreign germplasm (LF 69-1080 and LF 70-920) and clones of waterlogging trials (WL-16-144, WL-16-116, WL-16-15) under field conditions] at seedling stage was affected by a new fungus, producing sclerotial bodies on the infected portion of the plant. Both setts and settlings were affected by this fungus. Wilting, sett rot, twisting of leaves, rotting of seedling at basal portion, white mycelial growth with sclerotial bodies on the infected portion of plants were common symptoms. Upon isolation, the fungi produced dense, aerial whitish-cottony mycelia with uniformly globoid sclerotia after 10− 12 days of incubation. Fungi was identified as Sclerotium rolfsii through morphological and molecular character and established as pathogen following Koch’s postulate on detached settling, stem, and leaf at 28 °C. The nucleotide sequence was submitted in NCBI, accession number (ON786622). This is the first report of this pathogen in sugarcane germplasm. This present study will be useful in understanding the disease occurrence, clones affected and to workout suitable disease control measures in future.