Evidence of <i>Bipolaris oryzae </i>causing brown leaf spot disease of rice (<i>Oryzae sativa</i>) in Ghana

A high incidence of brown leaf spot disease was observed on rice foliage during field visits, with no management strategy employed by farmers. To confirm the aetiology for the future development of a management strategy, isolation and identification of the associated fungal pathogen was carried out morphologically and confirmed molecularly through amplification and sequencing of the ITS region. Pathogenicity test on the rice variety 'AGRA' was performed to confirm Koch's postulates. The pathogen was morphologically identified to belong to the genus Bipolaris. A molecular analysis based on the sequencing dataset placed the isolates in the same clade as Bipolaris oryzae. The current results should guide plant protectionists in developing sustainable management strategies to curtail the spread of the disease in the country.