Abstract

Experiments were conducted to study the role of anthocyanin pigment in sugarcane red rot disease resistance in response to C. falcatum infection. In resistant cultivars, anthocyanin levels were always higher after pathogen inoculation between 24 and 240 h than in susceptible cultivars. In resistant cultivar anthocyanin accumulation in pathogen inoculated canes was higher over the injured canes at all intervals, however, in susceptible cultivar, such accumulation was noticed upto 48 h only. Anthocyanin extracted at 72 h after inoculation had maximum antifungal activity on the pathogen. Higher anthocyanin synthesis occurred in incompatible interactions than in comptible interactions. Partially purified pathogen toxin also induced multifold increase in anthocyanin accumulation in the resistant genotype than in the susceptible genotype.

Keywords: Sugarcane, C. falcatum, Anthocyanin, Resistance