Smut is one of the main diseases of sugarcane, once it is considered in every breeding program both in the selection of breeding parents as well as in the behavior of the progeny. When the crop is extended to large extensions it becomes very important to know the amplitude of pathogen variation among its populations. In the face of the importance of obtaining varieties with effective and long lasting resistance, the objective of this study was to verify the occurrence, in the State of São Paulo, of pathogenic variability in the population of Ustilago scitaminea. Twelve populations of the pathogen were collected from three sugarcane growing regions: Piracicaba, Jaú, and Ribeirão Preto, and buds from three varieties with known response to this pathogen, SP71-8210 (resistant), SP84-2066 (susceptible) and Co421 (intermediate) were inoculated with teliospores of each population. A field trial was set up with these inoculated buds and diseased stools were evaluated every fourteen days. The resistant variety SP71-8210 did not express the disease. For the varieties that showed symptoms, it was considered the disease progress curve, the area under disease progress curve, the final incidence and, the latent period in the disease evaluation for each population. The populations of U. scitaminea showed distinct aggressiveness levels, however it was not observed changes in the virulence among tested populations. According to the evaluated parameters, one population from Piracicaba and two from Jau behaved as the most aggressive ones. Thus, it was showed that considerable aggressiveness variability exists among populations of U. scitaminea from Sao Paulo State. The variations found in this work must be taken in consideration by breeding programs when plants are artificially inoculated with smut teliospores.
smut; sugarcane; pathogenicity
