Int.J.Curr.Microbiol.App.Sci (2017) 6(6): 2038-2043 2038 Original Research Article https://doi.org/10.20546/ijcmas.2017.606.240 An Investigation on the Etiology and Characterization of Fungal Diseases of Gerbera N.M. Praveen 1 , Reshmy Vijayaraghavan 1* , K. Ajith Kumar 2 and Deepa James 1 1 Department of Plant Pathology, College of Horticulture, Kerala Agricultural University, Kerala, India 2 Department of Pomology and Floriculture, College of Horticulture, Kerala Agricultural University, Kerala, India *Corresponding author ABSTRACT Introduction Gerbera, a perennial herb, native to tropical regions of South America, Africa and Asia belongs to Asteraceae family. It is the most popular cut flower with increasing commercial significance. It fetches an excellent price in the international market and contributes greatly to the export earnings of the country because of its graceful appearance, hardiness and long shelf life (Aswath and Rao, 2006). One of the important constraints that limit the production of quality flowers in gerbera is the severe incidence of diseases. The crop is affected by various fungal, bacterial and viral diseases which reduce the plant vigour, flower quality and market value, thus causing significant losses to the commercial cut. Hence, considering the emerging trend towards the industry favouring gerbera as a major ornamental crop, the present investigation International Journal of Current Microbiology and Applied Sciences ISSN: 2319-7706 Volume 6 Number 6 (2017) pp. 2038-2043 Journal homepage: http://www.ijcmas.com A purposive sampling survey was conducted in three districts viz., Thrissur, Malappuram and Wayanad during July-August, November-December March-April seasons for monitoring disease occurrence and sample collection. Three leaf blights (LB-1, LB-2 and LB-3), two leaf spots (LS-1 and LS-2) and powdery mildew (PM) were the foliage diseases observed during the survey. Petal blight was the only flower disease noticed apart from root rot and wilt disease. Eight pathogens were isolated from diseased samples and pathogenicity test for each disease was carried out which aided in relating symptoms of the disease under artificial conditions with that of natural symptoms. Cultural and morphological characterisation of each pathogen was carried out for the identification of pathogens and the identity was confirmed by National Center for Fungal Taxonomy (NCFT), New Delhi. The pathogens causing LB-1, LB-2 and LB-3 were identified as Alternaria alternata, Alternaria tenuissima and Myrothecium roridum respectively. The pathogens responsible for leaf spots (LS-1 and LS-2) were identified as Ulocladium chartarum and Curvularia pallescens and for powdery mildew as Golovinomyces cichoracearum and Podosphaera sp. Curvularia lunata was identified as the causal organism of petal blight. Moreover, root rot and wilt disease observed during the survey were caused due to Phytophthora cryptogea and Fusarium solani respectively. Keywords Gerbera, Fungal diseases, Kerala. Accepted: 23 May 2017 Available Online: 10 June 2017 Article Info