Difference Between Anthracnose and Cercospora Leaf Spot

The key difference between anthracnose and Cercospora leaf spot is that anthracnose is a fungal disease caused mainly by Colletotrichum or Gloeosporium species, while the Cercospora leaf spot is a fungal disease caused by Cercospora species.

Fungi and bacteria cause leaf spot diseases in many plants, including floricultural plants. These diseases are responsible for significant economic loss. Anthracnose and Cercospora leaf spot are two fungal diseases. Anthracnose disease affects many plants, while the Cercospora leaf spot affects certain plants such as sugar beet, beetroot, roses and shrubs.

CONTENTS

1. Overview and Key Difference
2. What is Anthracnose 
3. What is Cercospora Leaf Spot
4. Similarities Between Anthracnose and Cercospora Leaf Spot
5. Side by Side Comparison – Anthracnose vs Cercospora Leaf Spot in Tabular Form
6. Summary

What is Anthracnose?

Anthracnose is one of the fungal diseases affecting many plants, including fruits, vegetable and trees. It is a very common disease in cotton, cucurbits, banana, bean, tomato, cereal, mango, pepper and onion.  The main causative agent of anthracnose is Colletotrichum species. Fungus Colletotrichum can infect all stages of the plant growth. Moreover, it can infect different plant parts, including leaves, stems, petioles, pods, fruits and roots. At the initial stage of the disease, small and irregular yellow, brown, dark brown, or black spots appear on leaves or fruits. Then with time, the colour of the spot becomes darker. At diseases severity, it causes defoliation and rotting of fruits.

Figure 01: Anthracnose in Banana

Furthermore, this disease can be spread via infected plant debris and infected seeds. Hence, the selection of disease-free plant materials for planting is very important to mitigate this disease. Field sanitation, seed treatments, removing infected materials, transplanting healthy seedlings, and crop rotation are several other preventive methods of anthracnose disease in plants.

What is Cercospora Leaf Spot?

Cercospora leaf spot is another fungal foliar disease seen in plants. The causative agents of this disease are Cercospora fungal species. Cercospora species mainly infect leaves of sugar beet, beetroot, roses and shrubs. Different species infect different plants. For example, Cercospora beticola infects sugar beets, whereas Cercospora rosicola infects rose plants. Initially, the infection appears on leaves as light green sunken spots. Then these lesions turn grey and they may have a purple border. The centre of the lesion appears to be raised. These lesions coalesce and form V-shaped necrotic areas at disease severity.

Figure 02: Cercospora Leaf Spot in Beet

Cercospora leaf spot causes defoliation, reducing the photosynthetic capacity. When the photosynthetic capacity reduces, the yield also reduces gradually.

What are the Similarities Between Anthracnose and Cercospora Leaf Spot?

• Anthracnose and Cercospora leaf spot are two fungal diseases in plants.
• Both produce spots on leaves.
• Moreover, both diseases cause defoliation.
• Therefore, both cause a significant economic loss.
• However, broad-spectrum fungicides can control them.
• Also, it is possible to prevent both diseases by destroying diseased parts, using disease-free seed and disease-resistant varieties, and controlling insects and mites that spread the fungi.

What is the Difference Between Anthracnose and Cercospora Leaf Spot?

Anthracnose is a plant fungal disease caused by Colletotrichum species while Cercospora leaf spot is a plant fungal disease caused by Cercospora species. So, this is the key difference between anthracnose and Cercospora leaf spot. Moreover, symptoms of anthracnose include dark sunken lesions on leaves, stems, flowers, and fruits. On the other hand, symptoms of Cercospora leaf spot are grey spots with brown and reddish-purple boarders. Therefore, this is the difference between anthracnose and Cercospora leaf spot in terms of their symptoms.

Furthermore, anthracnose diseases affect many plants, including vegetables, fruits, and trees. However, Cercospora leaf spot is commonly seen in leaves of sugar beet, beetroot, roses and shrubs.

Summary – Anthracnose vs Cercospora Leaf Spot

In brief, Anthracnose and Cercospora leaf spot are two fungal diseases that appear in plants. The causative agents of anthracnose are Colletotrichum species while the causative agents of Cercospora leaf spot are Cercospora species. Symptoms of anthracnose are dark sunken lesions on leaves, stems, flowers, and fruits while the symptoms of Cercospora leaf spot are small round grey spots with reddish margins. Thus, this summarizes the difference between anthracnose and Cercospora leaf spot.

Reference:

1. “Anthracnose” Brueckmann, Stefan. Anthracnose, Available here.
2. “Cercospora Leaf Spot.” Bayer Crop Science UK, Available here.

Image Courtesy:

1. “Banana: Anthracnose, crown rot and sugarcane bud moth injury” By Scot Nelson  (Public Domain) via Flickr
2. “Beet: Cercospora leaf spot” By Scot Nelson (Public Domain) via Flickr

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