The role of the abaxial leaf surface waxes of Lolium spp. in resistance to Erysiphe graminis

Abstract

Field and glasshouse observations of Lolium spp. grasses indicated that the lower, abaxial, leaf surface was rarely infected by powdery mildew ( Erysiphe graminis ) even when the upper, adaxial, surface was densely colonized. Experiments showed that conidia of two strains of E. graminis , one from Lolium and one from Avena , germinated equally well on both surfaces of Lolium and Avena leaves, but that the subsequent growth and development of germlings was impaired on the lower surface of Lolium leaves, so that most formed only multiple short germ tubes or an abnormal long tube, and only c. 25% or fewer formed infection structures. This contributes to the apparent resistance of the lower Lolium leaf surface to powdery mildew and may help to explain why the disease is relatively unimportant in UK ryegrass crops, since infection structures develop at a high frequency on only 50% of the leaf area, i.e. the upper surface. Scanning electron microscopy showed that the epicuticular waxes on the lower Lolium leaf surface form amorphous sheets. This contrasts with the crystalline plate waxes seen on the upper surface of Lolium leaves and on both surfaces of oat leaves. However, when the lower Lolium leaf surface was washed with chloroform to remove epicuticular wax, normal germling and infection structure development was obtained on the wax‐free surface. This suggests that the sheet waxes prevent the pathogen gaining access to features of the cuticular membrane which trigger normal germling development.