Meliolaceae of Aligarh, India

Abstract

The Meliolaceae is a family of fungi in the order Meliolales. These fungi flourish well in tropics and have extended their distribution from sub-temperate to temperate regions of the world. These are obligate but mostly ectoparasites that produce black or brown colonies on the leaves and stems of the host plants. These fungi are known to cause black or brown mildew disease on the plants. These black or brown mildews are obligate but mostly ectoparasites that produce black colonies on the surface of the host plants. Extensive work on the foliicolous fungi belonging to the family Meliolaceae at Aligarh and other adjacent areas has not been carried out. Therefore, a study was carried out to isolate and identify the foliicolous fungi attacking different plants of Aligarh. This paper gives the detailed description and illustration of five types of Meliolaceae fungi viz., Meliola alstoniae, Meliola mangiferae, Meliola memecyli, Amazonia peregrina and Exosporodiella phoenixesa. Of these, the genus Exosporodiella with a type species E. phoenixesa was reported for the first time in the world, while the rest of the fungi were reported for the first time from Aligarh.

Keywords:

• black mildew
• foliicolous fungi
• Meliolaceae

Acknowledgement

The authors are highly grateful to Professor P.N. Chowdhry, Ex. Principal Scientist, Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi for helping in the identification of the fungi.