Identification of wilt disease in open-field intercropping cultivation of melon and pepper in Yanling,Henan province
ZHANG Linlong
WANG Fangfang
WU Huijie
KANG Baoshan
LI Jie
ZHAO Shengjie
XU Zhihong
WANG Pingyong
Abstract：To clarify the causes of widespread wilting and rotting of plants and fruits in the intercropping system of thin-skinned melon and pepper in Yanling,Henan province,this study collected typical diseased melon and pepper plants,as well as rotten fruits,from the affected areas.The pathogen was isolated,inoculated,and re-isolated.Through morpho-logical observation,pathogenicity tests,and molecular identification,the pathogen was found to exhibit characteristic fea-tures of Phytophthora spp.,including hyphae,sporangia,and sporangiospores.Inoculation experiments demonstrated that the pathogen caused water-soaked brown lesions on melon and pepper plants and led to water-soaked lesions and white mold-like growth on infected fruits.Molecular analysis of the ITS sequence confirmed the pathogen as Phytophthora cap-sici.Furthermore,a plate confrontation assay revealed that the Bacillus velezensis strain 78-2 significantly inhibited the growth of P.capsici colonies,indicating its antagonistic activity against the pathogen.This study identified Phytophthora blight as the cause of large-scale wilting and rotting in Yanling's melon and pepper crops and provided theoretical support for early diagnosis and control of Phytophthora blight in melon and pepper,offering critical insights for the sustainable de-velopment of the melon and pepper industry.
Keywords：MelonPepperIntercropping cultivationPathogen identificationPhytophthora blightAntagonistic bacteria
Publication Date：2025-11-05
Online Publishing Date：2025-12-04(First online date of this platform, not the publication date of the document)
Pages：7( 92-98 )