DISEASE NOTES First report of leaf blight disease of Gloriosa superba L. caused by Alternaria alternata (Fr.) Keissler in India Chandan Kumar Maiti Surjit Sen Amal Kanti Paul Krishnendu Acharya Received: 2 February 2007 / Accepted: 23 March 2007 / Published online: 24 July 2007 Ó The Phytopathological Society of Japan and Springer 2007 Abstract Leaf blight disease was found on Gloriosa superba L. (Liliaceae), an endangered, herbaceous, peren- nial, climbing lily that produces colchicine, in West Bengal, India in 2004. Small brownish spots on leaves developed into concentric rings, which eventually darkened and coalesced to blight the entire leaf. The causal fungus was morphologically identified as Alternaria alternata (Fr.) Keissler. This is the first record of A. alternata on G. superba. Keywords Gloriosa superba Á Leaf blight Á Alternaria alternata Introduction Gloriosa superba L. (glory lily, Liliacea) is an endangered, herbaceous, perennial, climbing medicinal plant found throughout India. Colchicine is the major compound iso- lated from the seed and rhizome of this plant (Sarin et al. 1974). It has abortifacient, anti-pyretic, anti-inflammatory and anti-leprotic properties (Guhabakshi et al. 2001). A leaf blight disease of this plant was observed during 2004–2006 in different areas of lower Gangetic plains of West Bengal, India. Recorded losses were estimated to be 65–80% per annum. Symptoms A leaf blight disease of this plant was observed during June to September (temperature 31 ± 2°C). Early symptoms appeared as small, circular to oval, light brownish spots (25–38 mm), 2–6 per leaf, scattered at the tip, margin, and midrib of the leaves. Subsequently, the spots enlarged and usually developed into a concentric ring. At an advanced stage, the spots became dark brown to blackish in colour, gradually coalesced and became irregular in shape, then the affected leaf blighted completely (Fig. 1a–c). Identification of the pathogen A fungus was consistently isolated from the blighted leaf on potato dextrose agar (PDA) as a pure culture (Fig. 1d). The fungus produced abundant branched, brownish, septate mycelia; conidia were found on leaf peels and scrapings, in cleared leaves and in vertical sections of leaves. Conidial size varied from 17.5–52.5 · 8.5–16 lm, with 3–5 trans- verse septa (Fig. 1e). Characteristics of conidia from cul- tures were similar to those of conidia isolated from infected plants. Based on the morphological characters, the organ- ism was identified as Alternaria alternata (Fr.) Keissler (Ellis 1971), and the identification was confirmed by the Agharkar Research Institute, Pune, India. Pathogenicity test Leaf disks (14 mm) were surface sterilized (0.5% sodium hypochlorite for 2 min), then placed on 0.5% water agar containing 1 lg/ml of benzylaminopurine (Ash and Lanoiselet 2001). They were then inoculated with 10 ll of C. K. Maiti Á S. Sen Á A. K. Paul Á K. Acharya (&) Molecular and Applied Mycology and Plant Pathology Laboratory, Department of Botany, University of Calcutta, 35, Ballygunge Circular Road, Kolkata 700 019, India e-mail: krish_paper@yahoo.com 123 J Gen Plant Pathol (2007) 73:377–378 DOI 10.1007/s10327-007-0033-9