Identification of Leptoxyphium sp. causing sooty mold on coconut

First Record of Leptoxyphium madagascariense Causing Sooty Mould on Mango (Mangifera indica L.) in Egypt

“…The honeydew is an essential food source for the growth of sooty mould (Chomnunti et al, 2011). Whereas, Daliyamol et al, (2021) confirmed that Leptoxyphium sp. is fungus closely associated with insect feeding which infesting coconut palm leaves in coconut gardens from Kerala, India.…”

“…In recent years, a fungal disease called sooty mould has been identified affecting mango trees. Sooty mould is caused by a wide range of nonphytopathogenic fungi that may appear within a single season or can persist for more than one season on wood (Daliyamol et al 2021). It appears as a black layer on various parts of the plant, such as leaves, twigs and fruits, as well as the branches of numerous evergreen and deciduous trees and shrubs (Chomnunti, et al 2014).…”

“…Leptoxyphium genus is characterized mainly by superficial and irregular networks of mycelium resulting from spirally coiled hyphae, which expand into a funnel-shaped form with a terminal conidiogenous region and conidia ellipsoidal, hyaline, unicellular and become guttulate when mature (Chomnunti et al, 2011 andYang , et al, 2014). There are many publications indicating that fungi belonging to the genus Leptoxyphium, commonly known as sooty mould fung, were isolated from the leaves of many species of trees and plants (Yang et al, 2014;Shankar et al, 2019 andDaliyamol et al, 2021). Leptoxyphium madagascariense Cheewangkoon & Crous isolated from leaves of Eucalyptus camaldulensis from the island of Madagascar has been described by Cheewangkoon et al (2009).…”