First Report of Anthracnose of Lentil Incited by Colletotrichum truncatum in Bulgaria.

In June 1992 and 1995, anthracnose of lentil (Lens culinaris Medik.) incited by Colletotrichum truncatum (Schwein.) Andrus & W. D. Moore was widespread in field trials at the Institute for Wheat and Sunflower 'Dobroudja' near General Toshevo in northeastern Bulgaria. Lesions on the leaves, stems, and pods were usually white to grayish on younger plants, often turning brown as plants matured. Severe infection usually resulted in dieback and/or death of plants. Acervuli containing spores and dark setae were observed within lesions, and conidia from the acervuli produced pure cultures of C. truncatum. Conidia were hyaline, onecelled, falcate to nearly straight with a prominent clear area in the center of highly granular cytoplasm, and measured 17.6 to 19.8 × 4.4 μm. C. truncatum was seed-borne in naturally infected lentil cv. Tadjikskaya 95 at low frequencies (<2%). Koch's postulates were fulfilled by inoculating the foliage of lentil cvs. Brewer and Pardina and reisolating the fungus from stem and petiole lesions. In pathogenicity tests, three isolates of C. truncatum from the foliage and seeds of lentil caused severe symptoms on inoculated lentil cvs. Brewer and Pardina, similar to those observed on diseased lentils in Bulgaria. The fungus also caused moderate symptoms on inoculated faba bean (Vicia faba L.) and pea (Pisum sativum L.), and light symptoms on inoculated chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.). In 1995, 258 USDA Plant Introduction (PI) accessions from the USDA lentil core collection were screened in replicated trials in northeastern Bulgaria and disease symptoms were observed in >90% of the lines. Anthracnose severity ranged from light to severe. A few accessions appeared to have acceptable levels of resistance to the disease. These included accessions from Iran (PI 431714 and 431717) and Spain (PI 533693). Also that year, C. truncatum was isolated from stem lesions of naturally infected bitter vetch (Vicia ervilia (L.) Willd.) at the Institute for Wheat and Sunflower 'Dobroudja'. The disease in Bulgaria appears to be identical to one causing anthracnose of lentil in Canada (1) and the United States (2). This is the first report of C. truncatum causing anthracnose of lentil in Bulgaria. References: (1) R. A. A. Morrall. Plant Dis. 72:994, 1988. (2) J. R. Venette et al. Plant Dis. 78:1216, 1994.