First Report of Buckwheat Downy Mildew Caused by Peronospora cf. ducometi in the Czech Republic

Buckwheat (Fagopyrum esculentum) is an annual species from the Polygonaceae. In the Czech Republic (CR) it is grown both in conventional agriculture and ecological farming as a minority crop used as a pseudo-cereal and fodder crop, in inter-cropping, or as a melliferous plant. Buckwheat grains are rich in nutrients and suitable for people sensitive to foods containing gluten. In June 2014, symptoms of downy mildew were recorded on leaves of several buckwheat accessions grown in experimental fields at the Crop Research Institute (CRI) in Olomouc, CR. Microscopic observations revealed hyaline conidiophores typical of Peronospora arising individually or in groups of 2 to 3 (4) from stomata. Since this was the first sequence submitted for Peronospora originating from buckwheat, no other comparable data are available at the moment. To date, two conspecific species (P. ducometi and P. fagopyri) described from Canada, Central Asia, China, Italy, Japan, Korea, Poland, Romania, former USSR, Austria, and Slovenia have been so far known to cause downy mildew of buckwheat.