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Bipolaris bicolor (Bipolaris bicolor )
Bipolaris bicolor
Bipolaris bicolor
Cochliobolus bicolor, Drechslera bhawanii, Drechslera bicolor, Helminthosporium bicolor
Africa: Cote d'Ivorie, Morocco, Nigeria, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, Zimbabwe; Asia: China, India, Iran, Nepal, Taiwan, Thailand, India; Europe: Denmark, Yugoslavia; North America: Cuba, Canada, Mexico; Oceania: Australia, New Zealand; South America: Argentina, Brazil, Guyana.
Two U.S. reports exist, but only one notes a location (CA).
2025-09-17
fungus
-
Main: wheat; Other: corn, rice, sorghum
COCHBI
Bipolaris bicolor is a fungal pathogen in the Poaceae family that infects wheat and other grasses. It produces conidia on infected plant tissues and can survive on crop residues and soil. The fungus occurs primarily in warm temperate and tropical regions. In wheat, it causes leaf lesions and has been confirmed to be seed-transmitted. Experimental studies have shown that it can also infect corn, causing leaf lesions under controlled conditions.
1 Known Hosts
Zea mays
corn
uncertain
CABI CPC, COCHBI-1, COCHBI-2, COCHBI-3, COCHBI-4, COCHBI-5, COCHBI-6, COCHBI-7, COCHBI-8, COCHBI-9, COCHBI-10, COCHBI-11
Bipolaris bicolor has been isolated from healthy corn seeds (Remesova et al., 2007), and pathogenicity tests indicate it can infect roots and reduce seedling emergence (Chambers, 1987). Although no direct data document natural dispersal in corn, related species such as B. oryzae are known to be seed-borne with secondary spread from soil, debris, or wind-borne inoculum, implying similar pathways could occur for B. bicolor. While seed infection is confirmed in wheat, evidence for natural seed transmission in corn remains uncertain.
Yes
PCR
There is no standardized test.
COCHBI-5, COCHBI-12
2025-09-23 15:48:53
CABI CPC
Crop Protection Compendium. Wallingford, UK: CAB International. www.cabi.org/cpc.
COCHBI-1
Remesova, J., M. Kolarik, and K. Prasil. 2007. Microfungi on the kernels of transgenic and nontransgenic maize damaged by the European corn borer. Czech Mycology 59(2):205.
COCHBI-2
Chambers, K. 1987. Ability of fungal isolates from maize and sorghum to infect roots and reduce seedling emergence of two maize hybrids. Plant Disease 71(8):736-739.
COCHBI-3
Paul, A. R., and D. G. Parbery. 1966. The perfect state of Helminthosporium bicolor. Transactions of the British Mycological Society 49(3):385-386.
COCHBI-4
Manamgoda D.S., Cai L., Bahkali A.H., Chukeatirote E., Hyde K.D. Cochliobolus: An overview and current status of species. Fungal Divers. 2011;51:3–42.
COCHBI-5
Morejon, K. R., Moraes, M. H. D., & Bach, E. E. (2006). Identification of Bipolaris bicolor and Bipolaris sorokiniana on wheat seeds (Triticum aestivum L.) in Brazil. Brazilian Journal of Microbiology, 37, 247-250.
COCHBI-6
Bach, E.E.; Barros, B.C.; Kimati, H. Induced Resistance against Bipolaris bicolor, Bipolaris sorokiniana and Drechslera tritici-repentisin Wheat Leaves by Xantham Gum and Heat-Inact ivated Conidial Suspension. J. Phytopathol., 151, 1-8, 2003.
COCHBI-7
Muniz, P. H. P. C., Oliveira, T. A. S. D., Duarte, E. A. A., Rodrigues, F., & Carvalho, D. D. C. (2025). Pathogenicity and virulence of Bipolaris bicolor on wheat, corn and sorghum. Revista Ceres, 72, e72017.
COCHBI-8
U.S. Department of Agriculture, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service. (2024, March 5). Importation of corn (Zea mays L.) seeds for planting into the United States and Territories: A qualitative, pathway initiated pest risk assessment (Version 3).
COCHBI-9
Chakraborty, P., A. Chakraborty, and S. G. Bhattacharya. 2021. Dispersal of airborne pathogenic conidia of Bipolaris oryzae inciting brown spot disease of paddy in West Bengal, India. Journal of Tropical Agriculture 58(2).
COCHBI-10
Ma, Z., Y. Luo, and T. Michailides. 2003. Nested PCR assays for detection of Monilinia fructicola in stone fruit orchards and Botryosphaeria dothidea from pistachios in California. Journal of Phytopathology 151(6):312-322.
COCHBI-11
Sivanesan, A. 1987. Graminicolous species of Bipolaris, Curvularia, Drechslera, Exserohilum and their teleomorphs. CAB International.
COCHBI-12
Ahmadpour A, Heidarian Z, Ghosta Y, Alavi Z, Alavi F, Manamgoda DS, Kumla J, Karunarathna SC, Rampelotto PH, Suwannarach N. Morphological and phylogenetic analyses of Bipolaris species associated with Poales and Asparagales host plants in Iran. Front Cell Infect Microbiol. 2025 Mar 18;15:1520125.
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