Algae and viruses

View Larger Photo courtesy of Meng Jianzhong and Wan Bin from a course located 350 km (218 mi) from Shanghai, China. The A4 bentgrass is from a course with a low number of golf rounds during the peak heat of the summer when the bentgrass struggles. In this case, the green has poor air movement and the A4 is thin and stressed resulting in a heavy surface algae (cyanobacteria) layer. The presence of the algae was not surprising, it was the appearance of white patches of sand where the cyanobacterium had been killed that caused the most interest. Death of the algae is thought to be caused by a cyanophage (a virus that attacks cyanobacteria). The red arrows identify areas of the photo in the left that have been magnified in the photo to the right.

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Turf Diseases