The powdery mildew citizen science scheme was launched in mid-May. Since then samples have been received from as far north as Moray, Scotland, to the south coast around Portsmouth. Such a range shows, on a small scale the great abundance of powdery mildews, and will help to gain a truly representative overview of the pathogen in the UK.
After morphological analysis the potential powdery mildew species have been narrowed down with the results below.
Fungus: Potential Neoerysiphe galeopsidis Host: Centaurea montana
Fungus: Potential Erysiphe ulmariae Host: Filipendula ulmaria
Fungus: Potential Athrocladiella mougeotii Host: Lycium barbarum (Goji berry)
Extraction of the fungal DNA has begun and we are close to gaining sequence data for these species. This data will then allow for comparison with a vast library of other such DNA sequences and an accurate identification to be made.
Fungus: Potential Erysiphe knautiae Host: Knautia sp.
Fungus: Erysiphe berberidis or Phyllactinia berberidis Host: Berberis thunbergii f. atropurpurea
Fungus: Potential Golovinomyces cynoglossi Host: Tellima grandiflora
