MARDI Res. J. l7Q) 1989: 200-207

Bunchy and malformed top of papaya cv. Eksotika caused byThrips parvispinus and Cladosporium oxysporum(Penyakit berumpun dan berkerekot atas pada betik cv. Eksotika yang

disebabkan oleh Thrips parvispinus dan Cladosporium oxysporium)

W. H. L im*

Key words: bunchy and malformed top, papaya cv. Eksotika , Thrips part'ispinus,C lado s p o rium oxy s p orum

Abstrak

Punca darrn di bahagian atas pokok betik cv. Eksotika menjadi berumpun

dan berkcrckot telah dikaj i . Kaj ian pcnyuntikan menunjukkan bahawa

Thrips parvisplnas. dengan mcngikis dan mcnghisap daun-daun muda yang

sedang membesar, tclah membuka tcmpat jangkitan (pada t isu-t isu yang

rcrsak) yang membolehkan kulat Cladosporium oxl"sporum vang

kcbiasaannva saprofi t ik. masuk. Daun yang rosak apabila membesar akan

menunjukkan gejala berkerekot. daun pecah. bint ik-bint ik/ jalur- jalur pada

daun, dan bint ik berlubang pada lamina. Trips tanpa C. o,rrsporum hanya

mcnyebabkan tompok- tompok h i jau muda a tau kun ing rang sederhana a tau

jaluran pada daun tanpa bcrkcrckot manakala C. o.rvsporunl tanpa tr ips

t idak bo leh menvcbabkan jangk i tan .

Satu kaj ian di ladang untuk menilai kawalan secara kimia tclah

menun iukkan bahawa scmburan racun ku la t be nomi l (0 .0592 b .a . ) d ig i l i r kan

sc t iap minggu de ngan mankozcb (0 . l% b .a . ) t c lah member ikan kawalan

yang pal ing baik manakala scmburan dengan racun scrangga (dekamctrin

0 .003% b.a . dan mctamidofos 0 .17 . 5 .o . ; hanya member i kawalan vang

terhad.

Abstract

The cause of bunchy and malformed top of papaya cv. Eksotika. was

investigated. Inoculat ion studies showcd that Thrips parvispinus through

thcir feeding (scraping and sucking) on voung dcvcloping leaves providcd the

infection site (the damaged t issucs) for invasion bv thc normally saproph,v"t ic

fungus. Clado.sporium oxvsporum. The damagcd leaf. on cxpansion.

exhibited the typical malformed symptoms, characterized by shattered ancl

distorted lcaf spots/strcaks and shot-holes on thc lamina. Thrips, in the

absence oI C. oxy.sporum only caused sl ight mott l ing or streaking of the lcaf

without malformation, while C. oxysporum without thrips could not cause

infection.

A f ield tr ial on chcmical control showed that wcckly fungicidal sprays of

benomyl (0 .05 t la a . i . ) a l te rna ted w i th mancozeb (0 . l c /c a . i . ) p rov ided vcry

t F ru i t s Resea rch D i v i s i on . MARDI Ja lan Kebun . P .O . Box 11J6 . . { 1720 Ke lang . Ma la i r s i a

Author 's fu l l name: L im Weng Heee,Malaysian Agr icul tural Rcscarch and Development Inst i tute 199[)

20t)

Bunchl ' and malformed top of Eksotika papay'a

gooci control of bunchy/malformed top while onlY l imited control was

obtaincd with insccticidal sprays (decamethrin 0.00312, a. i . and

nrc thamidophos 0 . 1% a . i . ) .

IntroductionA previously unrecognized disease of

papaya (cv. Eksotika) was first observed

on nursery p lants in MARDI. Serdang in

late 198,5. The d isease was a lso observed

in the field where more than 50?iinc idence was recorded. Plants showing

the symptoms. v iz . bunchY andmal formed tops. were s low to recover .

and had a lmost no y ie ld i f in fect ionoccurred before fruit ing.

At a cursory glance, the sYmPtom

appeared s imi lar to papaya mosaic v i rus

disease which has not been repor ted in

Malaysia thus far . Closer examinat ion,however. revealed that the leaves d id not

exhib i t the marked chloros is and vein

clearing of the crown leaves which are

character is t ic of papaya mosaic d isease(Hine et a l . 196,5) . Pre l iminarvinvest igat ions to determine the possib le

cause of the bunchy and mal formed top

disease had implicated thrips (Thrip.s

parvispinus Carney)" as introduction of

the thr ips onto heal thy p lants reproduced

the symptoms (Vi jaysegaran, S. ,MARDI, Serdang, pers. comm. 1986) and

insect ic idal spravs on af lected p lants

resulted in recovery (Vijaysegaran 19tt6).

E,xaminat ion of d iseased leavescr lns is tent l l revealed the presence of agrey coloured mould associated with

diseased les ions on the leaf . At temptswere made to identify the fungus and to

invest igate i ts ro le, i f any, in the bunchv/

malformed top syndrome. The research

findings are reported in this paper.

Materials and methodsIsolationDiseased p lants in the f ie ld were

examined and observed regular ly for

symptom development . Diseased leaves

were taken to the laborator,v and

examined under the binocular microscope

201

for fungal growth and sporulation.Infected leaf pieces were cut and surface

steril ized in 70c/c, Chlorox for 2 min and

placed on steri le potato dextrose agar(PDA) p lates. The colonies obta ined af ter

1 week's incubat ion at 28 + 2 oC were

transferred to PDA test- tube s lants and

incubated for a week. The cultures were

examined under the microscope to

determine thei r ident i ty and to ascer ta in

thei r pur i tv . Selected iso lates were sent to

the C.A.B. Internat ional MycologicalInst i tu te (CMI) , Kew. E,ngland for

ident i f icat ion.

Cultural and morphological characteisticColonies obta ined f rom hyphal t ips were

used to study the cultural andmorphological characteristics. The

isolates were grown on PDA plates and

incuba ted a t 28 + 2 'C fo r 10 da l s .

PathogenicityIsolate PY-5 was selected for pathogenicit,v

studies on 6-month-o ld papaya (cv.

Eksot ika) p lants. p lanted in polybags.

The treatments were as followsT1 : Thrips onlvT2. Thr ips. fo l lowed 2 days la ter b! '

C. oxysporiurTr spray (PY5)C. ox1'spctrtun (PY5) spray onl,vContro l 1, sprayed weeklv wi thdecameth r i n (0 .003% a . i . )

T-5 : Control 2, no insecticide sPraYEach t reatment had e ight Plants.

Af ter t reatment the p lants weJe kept in

the nursery for obserl 'ation. Thrips were

col lectcd f rom the f ie ld together wi thfreshly opened flowers in which they were

found. Only flowers with more than four

thrips each were collected. Each flower was

then tied to the leaf axil, adjacent to the

apex of the plant (for treatments T1 and

T2). When the apex was examined 2 dayslater, thrips were seen on the young leaves.

T3Trl

f 'he C-. o.yvsporunl spore suspcnsionwas prepared f rom 10-c lay-o ld cul turesgrown on PDA plates bv brushing of fspores f rom the sur lacc wi th d is t i l ledwater . Sporc concentrat ion u,asdcterminecl us ing a haemacvtomctcr andd i l u ted to ca . l 0 ' spo res /n rL . A Desagasprav gun was L lscd to sprav- inc lculate theleaves .

Tu'o sets of contro l t reatments \ \ 'c rccompared. In conl ro l l . the p lants r .vcrcsprar , 'ec l u 'eeklv l i r r I nr t ln ths u i thc iccamcthr in to contro l contaminant thr ipslvh i lc Contro l I $as unsprar ,ec l .

-fhc plunts ."r 'cre obsen,ecl clailv lor

svmptom c le 'n 'e lopment and rccorc lcd lor :O thr ip damatc on matur ing le l rvesO Cladospor iunr lca l spot on matur ing

leu rcs ( t hc nun rbe r -o l spo ts i l ca f t l i scountcc l )

O l t ' l r l ' l . l i t l r t ( \ u \ c r e r r e e r t r . i : ) ( ) r r \ L r \voung lcavcs (bc iorc crpunsion) ancl

O bunchl' and rnalf 'ornrccl tc'rpDiscascd lcavcs rvcre removecl ancl

re iso lated for the pathogen. as dcscr ibeclabove.

' lhc voung lcavcs at c l i f ferent

s tages o f deve lopmcn t \ \ e r c markcd (u i t hp l l i l r t ) o l r t hc pe t i o l e r rn t l i t s c l i : e asct l cvc lopmen t nas fo l l ouec l .

- l hc

c \ p c i l m e l ) t \ \ i r s t c f n l l n l l l c ( l i r l t c f

I r l on ths .- I

hc crper inrcnl \ \ ' i rs lcpcatct l - inronths la tcr us ing - l -month-o lc l papl r \aplunts. Sor .ne minor chunges rvere nraclc .v i z . t he p lan ts u ' e re kep t i n l . l n r x ( ) . 6 n r r( ) 9 n r p las t i c cagcs (onc l r cu tn rcn t o t l ( lp l a l r t s r cage )anc l on l r ( o r r t r o l r uus r r sc r i .

(.'henicol control, \ l { i - n ron lh -o l r i ; r l r pu ra p lo t ubou l 0 I i t , ri t t \ lAR l ) l . l a l i r n Ke [ ru r t ' , r i t : shou i n !e u r l r s i g t t s o l hunc l t r "n l r l I o rmc i i t o l r\ \ l l t p t ( )n t . Be c l rusc ( ) l t l t r ' u l ' gcnc r o l t he

1tr -oblcrn. r t u i ts t le c ic lcc l to r . rse l t t \ l inr r t sc r ra t i on p lo t ( non - rep l i c l t cd ) l o rchernic i r l contro l o l thc t l iscuse: a pr( )pe rr c ' p l i ca te t l t r i a l u i l l bc cond r r c te d l a t c r .

\ \ ' . H. t . inr

- l - hc t r c i l t l nc | l t \ \ \ c re : -

S I : Bcnomv l (0 .0 -5 t i a . i . ) a l t e rna tcc lu c c k l v u , i t h m a n c o z e b ( 0 . l l r a . i . )

S l : Decan rc th r i n (0 . (X )3 ' r l a . i . )a l ternatec l u ' i th methamickrphos( 0 . 1 f | a . i . )

S3 : Decameth r i n ( ( . ) . (X )3 ( , r u . i . )a l ternatec l \ \ ,eeklv u i th bcnorrr ' l( 0 .0 -5? a . i . )

SJ : Contro lAn l 8 -L knapsack sp ra \ e r u as usc r i .

- l 'hc p lants \ \ 'ere spravccl unt i l run-o l l ' anr l

u\ t f a c f f r ) r t u as macle t ( ) cnsurc t l ' ru t theclcr c loping lcaves r ' " 'erc thoroughlvspravccl . Euch t reutment consistec l t l f -10--50 p lants. The t rcatntcnl \ \ 'as cont inuccll i l r I r r ronths and the p lants uerc r lbse rvecl*cekl r lbr bunchv ancl r ra l fornrcc l top\ \ n rp t ( )m- \ . On lV p lan ts shou tug scvc rci . r r i r tchr i tnc l n l r l f t r rnrcc l top (Plutc l / \ \c- recons i c l c re d i n t hc c l i s casc coun l .

Results and discussionI solation und identiJication[ : rarn inat ion of in fectec l t issues revealec lthc prcscncc of gre" ' r 'e lvet r rnoul r l r ln t l . rcl cs ions . M ic roscopc c r ; rm ina l i on o l t hcg re r n rou l r l shon ec l l r p ro l i l cn r t i t r n o l '\Po rcs hc long i r r c t t l l hc genL r r( ! t t t l r t . :1 t t t r i t t l t . Isr t l l r t ion I r t rnr r l i rc i tsct li e a l t i s sucs c r l r t s i s t cn t l r i i e l c i e t l t l r c s l r r r r cI r rngus i i h i ch spo ru lu t c r - l r cu t l i l r i nc t r l t u r c . I so la t c ' s scn i i ( ) t hc ( . . \ . l lln tcrnat ional l \ lvcokrgtc l r l Inst r t u tc(C'N{ l ) . Ke$ . E nc luncl . r 'u cre ic lc nt i l icc l [ r rI ) r l ) . \ \ ' . Nl in ter as ( ' lu t lospr t r r tur t( ) \ ' \ ' . \p( ) runt Berk. & \ '1 . A. ( 'ur t is .

( ulturaI rharotterittit';( ludo.s l t r t r i tu t l ( ) - t \ ' . \ ' l ) ( )nt t t t is l r : long r ( ) \ \ i l r g l ung l l \ . i t l t a l l i l ng , t t c i i l r r t r e t c I o l i I

t t t n r a f t c r 6 c l a r s g r ( ) \ \ t h on P I ) ' \ r ncc l i un r. r l l S - , l ' ( ' . I ' h c . ( ) i ( ) n v i s i 1 ' l L t r c . d u r kg r c r . t l c n s c l r f l o c c o s e a n d r e l r c t r . u i t i rsnrooth ' , r 'h i te nrurg in. l 'hc re \ cr \ r is t la lkcrcr ' $ i th r ' r 'h i tc n l r rg in. ( 'on ic l iop l rorcs

lu lc s t ru ight or s l icht l r f lc ruor . rs . r rodosc.pulc brow'n ancl sntooth. up to 2-5( l pr long.C'onid ia ar isc l ' rom ternr inal sucl l ings. in

202

Bunchy and mal formed top of Eksot ika papaya

Figure l. Conidia and conidiophores ofCladosporium oxysporum (x 500)

simple or branched chains. They havevariable shapes ranging from cylindrical(rounded at ends), ell ipsoidal, l imoniformto subspherical; they are subhyaline,smooth, unicellular to two-septate and ofdimension 17 .3 p" long (ranging from6.6. p to 35.0 p) x 7 .6 p wide ( rangingfrom 5.5 p, to 8.8 p.) (Figure I).

SymptomsBunchy and malformed top symptoms arefound on both nursery plants (5-6 weeksold) as well as on mature plants in thefield. A plant may be producing healthyleaves, and 'almost suddenly' the newflushes appear malformed with leaf spotsand shot-holes (1-3 mm wide) in them(Plate 1). In severe cases, the leAfappearsdistorted and shattered, with somesegments of the lamina missing (Plate 2).Frequently, the undeveloped young andtender leaf is completely blighted, leavinga stub of petiole behind (Plate 2).Whenthe lamina is in tact . the mature leafbecomes distorted with a number of

203

Plote l. Typical bunchy and malformed top

disease of papaya cv. Eksotika

Plate 2. Developing papayo leaves showingvarying degrees oJ thrip and Cladosporiumdamage. The youngest leuf on the extreme leftwas completelv blighted

necrotic spots, ranging from 1 mm to3 mm in diameter. The spots later developinto shot-holes with necrotic yellowborder. Short l ight yellow streaks(especially clear when seen against thelight) are sometimes interspersed amongthe soots.

q

8{. a-

&1r.. .r , r t 't1J _

L a '' t r .. j .g 'I t 'w ;--1. s-

' l l € '

l - .1x ; '131 .".J *

W. H . L i n r

Tablc l . E,ffects of thrips andior ( ' . orvsporunt on 6-month-olcl papal 'a plants cv

I l kso t ika (Exr r t . l )

Pl lnts \ \ ' i th thr ip ( ' lac losporrunr lcaf Plants * i th

Trc i l tment ' | danragc (strcaking, ' spot sr ' rcr i tv bunchr ' , tDal f t t rmcclmo t t l i ng ) ( ' l ) (mcan r t o . spo t r l c i i l ) t op ( 1 . ; )

Thr ips onl l 100Thr ips and

C . o.r t 'sporLun I { ) ( l( . o-u.ipr,rrzln onlr' 0

Control | (Det is) 0

0 . l

61 .0,+.3

00 5

0

1 ( n )000C'ontro l 2 0

'Plants not enclosecl in cagc. ci !ht plentsrtrci l tr l lcnt

Trrble 2. Effccts of thrips und,r()r C. o.r\ ' \porrutr on 3-rnonth olcl papa!'a plants c\

E .kso t ika ( t rxp t . 2 )

P l r rn t s \ \ i t h t h r i p ( ' l a t l ospo r i u rn l ca l P l an t s n i t h' f r ca tmcn t "

c l l r n l r gc ( s t r c l r k i ng spo t sc r c r i t r bunch r ' 'ma l f o rme i l

m o t t l i n g ) ( 1 1 ) ( n r r ' u n n o . s p o t l c a f ) t o p ( ' r )' l ' h r i ps

on l r I ( ) ( )' l 'hr ips

ancl( ' . o. t t . \portur t l ( ) ( )

( . o.n.sporrr l r onlr ' 0

.1. 7

rE. - i( r( l

l ( )

I { ) ( )

01 )C'ontro l l 0

" 'P l un t s cnc lOscc l i n scpa ra te p l as t i c cages . l 0 p l an t s ' t r e -a tmen t .

Translucent spots or s t reaks f i rs t be d is t inguished.appear on voung leaves. c iur ins ear lv O l ight rnot t l ing and st reaking c lue tcrdevelopment .

- l 'hr ips har"c been obscrvccl t l i rcct thr ip c lamasc (Plute -11

on thc undcvclopcd leal 'and apcx o i thc O lcaf-spot t ing ancl lcaf -b l ight c lue toplant . As thc lca l cn largcs. the spots and infcct ion br ,C. o, r . r ' . iTror tut t (Plutc 1)mal f r ) rmat ion appear nrore c" ident uncl Plants inoculated u i th thr ips a loneshot-holes la ter dcvclop f rom the spots. onl r , ' developed t l "p ica l thr ip c iamage-Ihe

in i t ia l c lamase. therefore. f i rs t occurs svmptom. v iz . l ight mot t l ing andon verv ) -oung developing lea\es a l though st rcaking. wi thout anv scvcrcdanragc becomes apparcnt onlv af ter the mal format ion (Toble I and Plata. i i . Theleaf has enlarged. Once a leaf has thr ips. whi lc fccding on thc voung lcaves.maturecl . ncw infect ion ckres not occur . A rasp and lacerate the leaf t issuessrcv rnould is usual lv founci growing on (superf ic ia l l r ' ) u , i th thei r rnouth-cone. anclthe a l fectec l t issue. especia lh on severel l , s t rck up the resul t ing chlorophr l l andbl ighted loung leaves. ju iccs. Svmptoms of mot t l ing and

streaking rvere ev ident as the v()ung leavesPathogenicit_v cnlargecl. appearing about -1--r clavs after' fhe

rcsul ts fmm Expcr iment I ancl the in t roc luct ion o l the thr ips. - fhe

contro lf :xper iment f shou'ed conclus ivelv that p lants ancl p lants spravecl w' i th ( .thc bunchv and mal lorr r rcd top svndromc o.yvsporLun spores a lone d id not exhib i t\ \ ,as duc to the at tack o l thr ips lo l loued b l thr ip damaue svmptom or leaf spotinl 'ccticrn ot'Cl. (r-r_l ',rpontm ot1 the voung svmptom; they remained normal andlcavcs (Tuble landTuble 2/ . E,ramirat ion heal thv. However. p lants inoculated wi thof t lre affectecl leaves showed that two both thrips and Cl. o.yvsporLtm sporcsdist inct typcs of pr inrarv svnlptoms could (2 days la ter) . showed both thr ip c lamagc

204

Bunchy and mal formed top of Eksot ika papaya

Plate 3. Typical light mottling and streaking

caused by feeding by thrips (from plant

inoculated with thrips only)

Plate 4. Cladosporium leaf spot symptoms onplant inoculated u,ith both thrips and C.oxlsporum spores (Note also the leaJmalformation and shot-holes )

and severe leaf spot symptom on thedeveloping leaves (Table I and Table 2).Chlorotic spots were evident on the youngleaves 2-3 days after spore inoculation.These p lants subsequent ly developed thetypical bunchy and malformed topsymptom 10 days later (PLate 4). Someyoung leaves, about 5 mm wide, were so

205

Plate 5. Very young leaf showing severe blights!-mptoms after inoculatiort with thrips and C.oxysporum

severely blighted that only a short petioleeventually remained (Plate 5). Bunchyand malformed top, therefore, is aconsequence of an init ial attack of theyoung leaves by thrips, followed byinfection by C. oxysporum resulting indistorted and stunted development of theexpanding leaves.

Only the treatment with combinedthrips and C. oxysporunr resulted inbunchy and malformed top, while thecontrol and either thrips or C. oxysportrmalone were free from the symptom.However. the treatment with C.oxysporum only and Control 2 had verylow levels of CLadosporium leaf spolsymptoms, presumably due to thepresence of contaminant thrips. This iscon f i rmed i n t he repea t expe r imen t(Exper iment 2) done under enclosedconditions when the same two treatmentswere free from the disease (Table 2).

However, unlike Experiment 1, whenall the plants inoculated with thrips only,remained healthy, 20ok of the plantstreated similarly in Experiment 2developed bunchy/malformed topsymptom. This was attributed tocontaminant C. oxysporui% spores

originating from the detached femaleflowers used to provide the thrippopulation for the study. Closeexamination of the shrivelled convolutedstigma located at the tip of the ovaryrevealed the presence of sporulating greymould confirmed to be C. oxysporumwhen examined under the microscope.Decaying petals also harboured thefungus. The humid condition in theenclosed space was especially favourableto the rapid colonization by the fungus.

W. H . L im

Chemical controlThe results of the observation made toevaluate fungicides and insecticides in thecontrol of bunchy and malformed top arepresented in TabLe 3.

Plants sprayed with benomyl/rnancozeb gave the best control at 1month after the start of the experiment, asall the new flushes that appeared werehealthy, compared with the unsprayedcontrol which showed I00% diseaseincidence (Plate 6). The insecticide

Plate 6. Complete recovery of papaya plants alter spraying with benomyl alternated weekly withmancozeb (row on left). The roh) on the right is unsprayed control; note the severebunchylmalforn\ed top symptom

Table 3. Chemical control of bunchy and malformed top of papaya

cv. Eksotika using fungicidcs and/or insccticidcs

(assessed 2 months after weekly sprays)

TreatmentPlants wi thbunchv/malformedtop (7c) .

Benomyl (0.054/o a. i . )a l ternated wcekly wi th mancozcb (0.1% a. i )

Decamethr in (0.00342i a. i . )a l ternated weekly wi th methamidophos (0. l% a. i . )

Decame th r i n ( 0 .03% a . i . )a l ternated weekly wi th benomyl (0.05% a. i . )

Control

20100

*Based on 30--50 plants/ t reatment

206

Bunchv and mal fornrcd top of I :ksot ik : l p i ipa)a

spraycd plants had :l0ft incidence $'hilethe insect ic ide- fungic ide combinat ion had20?f inc idence. As i t is merelv anobscrvat ion. i t would be premature todraw def in i te conclus ions f rom thc resul ts .I t . however. ind icates thc importance of(1. ox|sporunr in the discase compler. asIungic ide a lone was able to prov ic lecomplete d isease contro l : a l though thenew f lushes developed normal lv . s igns o lthr ip damagc were apparent on somelcavcs. ind icated b1 ' l ight scat tcrcdstreaking or mot t l ing o l r some par ts of theleaf .

Conclusion-lhe

foregoing study, has shown thatbunchy ' and mal formed top svndrome onpapaya cv. Eksot ika is a pest /c l iseasccomplex. cr iused bv feecl ing (scraping anclsucking) of the voung developing leavesby Thrips parvispintrs followcdimmediate ly bv in fect ion o1 ' the darna-qedportions bv Cladospnrittm o-rvsportun.Unequal in fect ion and necrosis of theyoung leaf rcsul ted in unequal expansionof the leaf . leading to mal f 'ormat ion on thefu l ly cxpanded leaf .

' l -hr ips bv themselves

are not ser ious pests. as thc i r superf ic ia lfeeding onlv caused l ight mot t l inu andstreaking on the mi i ture leaves. u, i thoutr .narked leaf d is tc l r t ion. J-h is uasciemonstrated in thc inoculat ioncxpcr imcnts wi th thr ips. and in thc f ie ldexper iment . where regular fungic ic la lsp r i r vs r l one cou ld comp le t c l r c t l n t ro l t hebunchv mal formed top d isease.- [ -he use ofinscct ic ides a lone was less cf icct ive incontro l l ing the d iseasc. I ts use incontro l l ing thr ips. especia l lv dur ingf lower ing. is not encouragcd as the thr ipsare bel ievecl to bc pol l inat ine age nts asr re l l : i nadcq ru r { c po l l i na t i on i r r p t rp l r r rma_v lcad to premature l ru i t drop andreduced f ru i t s ize.

( ' I u t l , , .s 1 t o r i u t n t , .y . \ ' .s : 1 t t t r I I t t I i : , tcommon saprophvt ic fungus in thetropics. found usual lv on dead par ts of

. '1<<epted for puhl i tat ion on I1 Murt l t l9E9

207

le ar ,cs and stems ol hcrbaceous anclr " 'ooclv p lants (El l is 1971). In Mala_vsia. i thas been associated wi th pod rot ofsc l l -bean. lea i nrould of rubbcr . f lowermould of mse and branch d ic-back ofcacao (W i l l i ams and L iu 1976 ) . Onpapaya. a ()lodosporitrm sp. has beenassociatec i wi th mould on leaves and peta ldecav (Johnston 1960). and leaf s l lo t andfru i t rot ( ' furner 1971). u 'h i le C' .o.rl.\p()runt was associateci with 1rr.ritanthracnose (Kueh 197- l ) . BLrnchl andrra l forrned top of papava cv. Eksot ika.and the involvemcnt of C. o-r_i ',r 'pr)rutn L\sdcscr ibecl here. has not bccn repor tedpreviouslv . Obscrvat ions have indicatedthat thc cul t ivar Eksot ika r .vas h ighlvsusceptible u,hile the cultivars Sr-rbang anclSi t iarvan appeared to bc to lcrant . Fur therinvcst igat ions shoulc l bc donc to evaluatecul t ivar suscept ib i l i tv to th is potent ia l lvser ic lus d isease.

AcknowledgementsThe author rv ishes to thank Mr ChanThiam Hwo. Mr Khalicl NIat Saad and MrKami l Yaakob for thei r invaluableassis tance.

- l 'he supplv o i papava secdl ings

by ' Mr Chan Ying Kwok is gratefu l lvacknou ledged.

Referencest r l l i s . \ 1 . t t . ( l 97 l ) . Dcn l r t i u ccous l t r p l r on t r cc te :

( r0f i p. Surrcr ' : C'NI lH inc . R . B . . Ho l t z rnann . O . \ ' . an t l Raabc . R . D .

( 1965 ) . D i scascs o f pup r ra \ ( u r i c t pu l t u t u 1 . . \i n Hana i i . ) 5 p . Ha tu i i A t r i t t t l t u ra l E r1n .Stut ion, ( i r t iy . o l l lunui i BLr l l . \ 'o . 1.16

. l ( ) hns ton . r \ . ( 196 ( ) ) . A supp l c - rnen t t o I hos t l i s t o fp lant d iseascs in \ la lata. .Vvcologi tu l [ 'u1t t ' t ;\ ' ' r . 77 l ( l p . Su r r t r : ( i \ l l

Ku! h . T. K. ( I t )71). \ i ! . \ \ p l i l l t t r l iscusc rce of t ls 1t ' r .Srrnruak for l9 l l Ounluts l l t t l l t t i t r l7 : l l . l ( )

- f u rne r . ( ; . J . ( l 97 l ) . Fung i and p l l n t c l i s casc i nSatan ak. I)ltt trtltutlutlogit ul I'u1str.s ,\'o 1.1 l6p . S r r r r c r : ( ' \ l l

V i j i r \ \dgir ran. S. (193- i ) . i l t r i1 t . : pt r r t '1 tu l l . t ( . r rncr( ' l ' h r i p i duc : ' l ' h r sanop t c r l ) - i l P ( ) t c i t t i a l l t c \ \pcst of papaya. Papcr prcscnlccl at Scconcl int .con f . p l . p ro t . i n t hc t r op i cs . l 7 l ( ) N . l a r chI t ) i i6 . Cient ing Hiqhlancls. 3 p. Organizcr :] ! I , \PPS