Leptosphaeria sacchari
Leptosphaeria sacchari (teleomorph—Phyllosticta sp) is a plant pathogenic fungus which causes a disease called ring spot on Saccharum officinarum. This species was originally described in 1890 by Kruger and in 1892 by Van Breda de Haan after it was discovered in the Dominican Republic. L. sacchari is the applied name, whereas Epicoccum sorghinum is the accepted name. Disease symptoms and control Hosts and symptoms Leptosphaeria sacchari is an ascomycete fungus whose only known host is sugarcane. The infection occurs on the leaves of lower canopy of the crop and starts out as small bronze spots. The spots elongate to become longer, irregular-shaped lesions (2.5 to 5 mm x 10 to 18 mm) with red-brown borders. The spots can merge and cause leaf chlorosis and later necrosis. In older lesions, L. sacchari can form small, black dots, but usually only on older leaves. These black dots can be identified as perithecia and pynidia. Prevention methods Due to its effect on older parts of the crop, ring spot is considered to be a minor disease with no economic importance. Therefore, prevention and control methods are not well established for L. sacchari and are instead aimed at more influential diseases such as brown