Survey of Tea (Camellia sinensis) Diseases in Southwestern Ethiopia
Nagassa Dechassa,
Gabissa Gidissa,
Legese Hagos,
Mohammedsani Zakir,
Lemi Beksisa,
Melaku Adisu
Issue:
Volume 8, Issue 6, November 2020
Pages:
139-149
Received:
7 October 2020
Accepted:
27 October 2020
Published:
11 November 2020
Abstract: Tea (Camellia sinensis) is one of the most commonly consumed beverages next to water worldwide. However its production and productivity is constrained by many fungal diseases in Ethiopia. Despite this, there is lack of information on the status of the diseases and lack of knowledge on features of the pathogens associated with the diseases as there have been no any systematic assessments conducted so far. Therefore, the current works were designed with the objectives to assess the distribution of tea diseases and identify the associated pathogens. For this purpose, field surveys were carried out across three tea estate farms (Wushwush, Chewaka and Gumaro) and tea out growers surrounding them in Kafa, Sheka and Ilu Aba Bora zones in Southwest Ethiopia during the 2019 season. Causative pathogens of the diseases were identified using cultural and morphological features. The average Fusarium wilt incidence varied from (0 to 20%), Black rot (7-15%), Bird’s eye spot (4-15%), Brown blight (2-5%) and Grey blight (0.5-5%) while mean disease severity of Black rot, Eye spot, Brown blight and Grey blight ranged from 4-11%, 3-9%, 1-5% and 0.5-5%, respectively. Fusarium wilt, black rot disease and eye spot diseases of tea directly related to tea yield loss. Algal leaf spot disease caused by Cephaleuros virescens was observed at Gumaro tea estate farm on the older leaves of aged tea bushes. The present study revealed the economic importance of tea diseases in Southwest Ethiopia. Future research should be directed towards the investigation and determination of management options for the control of important diseases of tea in the country.
Abstract: Tea (Camellia sinensis) is one of the most commonly consumed beverages next to water worldwide. However its production and productivity is constrained by many fungal diseases in Ethiopia. Despite this, there is lack of information on the status of the diseases and lack of knowledge on features of the pathogens associated with the diseases as there ...
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Diversity of Viruses in Hard Ticks (Ixodidae) from Select Areas of a Wildlife-livestock Interface Ecosystem at Mikumi National Park, Tanzania
Donath Damian,
Modester Damas,
Jonas Johansson Wensman,
Mikael Berg
Issue:
Volume 8, Issue 6, November 2020
Pages:
150-157
Received:
3 December 2020
Accepted:
16 December 2020
Published:
28 December 2020
Abstract: Many of the recent emerging infectious diseases have occurred due to the transmission of the viruses that have wildlife reservoirs. Arthropods, such as ticks, are known to be important vectors for spreading viruses and other pathogens from wildlife to domestic animals and humans. In the present study, we explored the diversity of viruses in hard ticks (Ixodidae) from select areas of a wildlife-livestock interface ecosystem at Mikumi National Park, Tanzania using a metagenomic approach. cDNA and DNA were amplified with random amplification and Illumina high-throughput sequencing was performed. The high-throughput sequenced data was imported to the CLC genomic workbench and trimmed based on quality (Q = 20) and length (≥ 50). The trimmed reads were assembled and annotated through Blastx using Diamond against the National Center for Biotechnology Information non-redundant database and its viral database. The MEGAN Community was used to analyze and to compare the taxonomy of the viral community. The obtained contigs and singletons were further subjected to alignment and mapping against reference sequences. The viral sequences identified were classified into bacteria, vertebrates, and invertebrates, plants, and protozoans viruses. Sequences related to known viral families; Retroviridae, Flaviviridae, Rhabdoviridae, Chuviridae, Orthomyxoviridae, Phenuiviridae, Totiviridae, Rhabdoviridae, Parvoviridae, Caulimoviridae, Mimiviridae and several Phages were reported. This result indicates that there are many viruses present in the study region, which we are not aware of and do not know the role they have or if they have the potential to spread to other species and cause diseases. Therefore, further studies are required to delineate the viral community present in the region over a large scale.
Abstract: Many of the recent emerging infectious diseases have occurred due to the transmission of the viruses that have wildlife reservoirs. Arthropods, such as ticks, are known to be important vectors for spreading viruses and other pathogens from wildlife to domestic animals and humans. In the present study, we explored the diversity of viruses in hard ti...
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