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The Novel Disease Vicia unijuga Caused by Colletotrichum tofieldiae in China: Implications for Host Growth, Photosynthesis, and Nutritional Quality

Summary

Scientists in China discovered that a fungus called Colletotrichum tofieldiae causes a disease called anthracnose in perennial vetch (Vicia unijuga), an important forage crop used for animal feed. When plants get infected with this fungus, they become weak, their ability to photosynthesize decreases, and the nutritional quality of the plant drops significantly, reducing its value as animal feed. The fungus can also infect other legume crops like alfalfa and clover, showing it has a broad range of potential host plants.

Background

Vicia unijuga is an important forage legume on China’s Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau valued for its high protein and soluble sugar content. The plant exhibited dark-brown sunken lesions on stems at the Qingyang Experimental Station of Lanzhou University. Six fungal genera have been previously reported to cause diseases in V. unijuga, but the anthracnose pathogen remained poorly understood.

Objective

This study aimed to identify the causal pathogen of anthracnose in V. unijuga through morphological observation, pathogenicity testing, and multi-locus sequence analysis. The researchers also sought to explore the host range, biological characteristics, and effects of the pathogen on plant growth, photosynthesis, and nutritional quality.

Results

The fungus was identified as Colletotrichum tofieldiae through multi-locus phylogenetic analysis. Inoculated V. unijuga plants showed significantly reduced growth parameters, photosynthetic indices, and nutritional quality compared to controls, with crude protein reduced by 31.61%. C. tofieldiae also infected six other legume species, with V. sativa showing the highest infection severity.

Conclusion

This study reports C. tofieldiae as the causal agent of anthracnose on V. unijuga for the first time globally. The pathogen significantly compromised host physiology, photosynthesis capacity, and nutritional quality. Further investigations on epidemiology, disease control strategies, and breeding of anthracnose-resistant varieties are recommended.
  • Published in:Journal of Fungi (Basel),
  • Study Type:Original Research,
  • Source: PMID: 40863519, DOI: 10.3390/jof11080567
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