Abstract

A preliminary survey of weeds infected by plant pathogen was carried out in the most important agricultural areas in the Southern Coastal Plain during the agricultural seasons 2006-2007 and 2007-2008.The results of the survey showed that 56 species of weeds belonging to 20 families, of which the most important were Fabaceae11 species, Euphorbiaceae 6 species, Solanaceae 5 species, 4 species of each the families Amaranthaceae, Poaceae, Capparidaceae and Asteraceae, Cucurbitaceae 3 species and 1 - 2 species distributed to the rest of plant families, Species such as Tephrosia apollinea and Cassia ssp. Solanum dubium, Heliotropium europaeum, Abutilon pannosum and Datura innoxia were of great importance as they were widely distributed in most areas of survey. It also infected more than a pathogenic and in highly incidence of infection. The results showed also the domination of fungal pathogens where 11 species were recorded, and the genus Alternaria was the most important which infected 37 species of weeds, as well as Cladosporium 15 species, Cercospora 4 species, 3 species for each Helmintosporium, Stemphylium, Fusarium and Macrophomina, and two species for Puccinia, Erysiphe. Phytoplasma disease has a clear incidence of 15 species of weeds in the most plant families, especially on widespread weeds such as Tephrosia apollinea and Cassia italica, which are recent outbreaks in the region. Eleven species of weeds have been recorded with symptoms of virus diseases. The most common species were Heliotropium europaeum and Solanum dubium, which had symptoms of Leaf Curl virus in most areas of survey.