A fungal disease (Bipolaris maydis) that causes elongated tan lesions on maize leaves and, in its most virulent race, on stalks and ears. A strain adapted to the Texas male sterile cytoplasm widely used in United States hybrid seed production caused the 1970 corn blight epidemic, which destroyed roughly 15 percent of the national maize crop and remains a textbook warning about the risks of genetic uniformity in breeding.
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Maize, Crops Southern corn leaf blight caused the catastrophic 1970 US maize epidemic tied to Texas male-sterile cytoplasm.
Sources
1. Southern Corn Leaf Blight (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia FoundationOpening definition paragraph
Southern corn leaf blight (SCLB) is a fungal disease of maize caused by the plant pathogen Bipolaris maydis.
lead description
A fungal disease (Bipolaris maydis) that causes elongated tan lesions on maize leaves and, in its most virulent race, on stalks and ears.
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