scholarly journals Effect of Sclerotium Density and Irrigation on Disease Incidence and on Efficacy of Coniothyrium minitans in Suppressing Lettuce Drop Caused by Sclerotinia sclerotiorum

Plant Disease ◽  
2010 ◽  
Vol 94 (9) ◽  
pp. 1118-1124 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. Chitrampalam ◽  
T. A. Turini ◽  
M. E. Matheron ◽  
B. M. Pryor

Field experiments were conducted over 2 years in Yuma, AZ, and Holtville, CA, to establish the relationship between soil sclerotium density of Sclerotinia sclerotiorum and the incidence of lettuce drop on different lettuce (Lactuca sativa) types under different irrigation systems, and to determine the efficacy of the biocontrol agent Coniothyrium minitans (Contans) against S. sclerotiorum on crisphead lettuce at varied sclerotium densities under different irrigation systems. There was no significant interaction of irrigation (overhead sprinkler versus furrow) with either sclerotium density or with biocontrol treatment. Lettuce drop incidence was lowest in romaine lettuce compared with crisphead or leaf lettuce at all soil sclerotium densities. There was a significant positive correlation between the sclerotial density and the percent disease incidence. Disease incidence in plots infested with 2 sclerotia/m2 of bed was not significantly higher than in control plots regardless of lettuce type. However, plots infested with 40 or 100 sclerotia/m2 of bed revealed a significantly higher disease incidence over the control in all lettuce types. A single application of Contans at planting significantly reduced the incidence of lettuce drop in all lettuce types even under high disease pressure. There were no significant differences between recommended (2.2 kg/ha) and high (4.4 kg/ha) application rates of Contans or between one or two applications of the product.

Plant Disease ◽  
2008 ◽  
Vol 92 (12) ◽  
pp. 1625-1634 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. Chitrampalam ◽  
P. J. Figuli ◽  
M. E. Matheron ◽  
K. V. Subbarao ◽  
B. M. Pryor

Field experiments were conducted over 2 years in Yuma County, AZ, and Imperial County, CA, to determine the efficacy of several biocontrol agents for the management of lettuce drop caused by Sclerotinia spp. Commercial formulations of Trichoderma harzianum (Plantshield, Supersivit), Gliocladium virens (Soilgard), Coniothyrium minitans (Contans), and Bacillus subtilis (Companion) were evaluated and compared with the chemical fungicide iprodione (Rovral) against Sclerotinia sclerotiorum and S. minor. A single application of biocontrol products or of Rovral did not reduce lettuce drop caused by either Sclerotinia species. However, two applications of Contans, one at planting and one at post-thinning, significantly reduced the incidence of lettuce drop caused by S. sclerotiorum and increased yield but had no effect on S. minor at both locations in both years. Two applications of other biocontrol products did not significantly reduce disease incidence despite medium to high recovery following application. In contrast, Contans was only sporadically recovered following application. In vitro fungicide sensitivity evaluation revealed that both Trichoderma and Gliocladium species were tolerant to iprodione, dicloran (Botran), and vinclozolin (Ronilan) up to 1,000 ppm a.i., whereas both Sclerotinia spp. and C. minitans were sensitive to all three fungicides above 1 ppm. In summary, Contans was the most effective treatment for the control of lettuce drop caused by S. sclerotiorum, but no treatment was effective against S. minor in the desert lettuce production systems.


2000 ◽  
Vol 80 (4) ◽  
pp. 909-915 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. Wang ◽  
K. F. Chang ◽  
S. F. Hwang ◽  
G. D. Turnbull ◽  
R. J. Howard

Greenhouse studies showed that root inoculation had significant effects on sclerotinia blight (Sclerotinia sclerotiorum) of coneflower (Echinacea sp.). Seedling wilt and root rot symptoms caused by S. sclerotiorum were most severe when inoculum was placed in direct contact with seedling roots, and diminished as the distance of the inoculum from the roots increased. When colonized agar disks, colonized oat grains and sclerotia as inoculum sources were evaluated on E. angustifolia, grain inoculum was the most virulent and sclerotia the least. An in vitro bioassay was conducted, and a logistic dose-response model was developed for the fungicides benomyl, vinclozolin, iprodione and dicloran. The first three fungicides were further evaluated in greenhouse experiments. Benomyl was the most effective in controlling S. sclerotiorum in both bioassay and greenhouse evaluations. The same three fungicides were evaluated in two field experiments in Alberta, where all were effective in reducing disease incidence. Key words: Echinacea sp., Sclerotinia sclerotiorum, dose-response model


1999 ◽  
Vol 89 (2) ◽  
pp. 141-147 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Gerlagh ◽  
H. M. Goossen-van de Geijn ◽  
N. J. Fokkema ◽  
P. F. G. Vereijken

The effect of the fungal mycoparasite Coniothyrium minitans applied as a spray to crops infected with Sclerotinia sclerotiorum (causal agent of white mold) on contamination of soil with S. sclerotiorum sclerotia was studied in a 5-year field experiment. Sclerotial survival also was monitored during two subsequent years, when the field was returned to commercial agriculture. In a randomized block design, factorial combinations of four crops and three treatments were repeated 10 times. Potato (Solanum tuberosum), bean (Phaseolus vulgaris), carrot (Daucus carota), and chicory (Cichorium intybus), which are all susceptible to S. sclerotiorum, were grown in rotation. Plots were treated with C. minitans or Trichoderma spp. or were nontreated (control). Crops were rotated in each plot, but treatments were applied to the same plot every year. After 3 years during which it showed no effect on sclerotial survival, the Trichoderma spp. treatment was replaced by a single spray with C. minitans during the fourth and fifth years of the trial. The effect of treatments was monitored in subsequent seasons by counting apothecia as a measure of surviving S. sclerotiorum sclerotia and scoring disease incidence. Trichoderma spp. did not suppress S. sclerotiorum, but C. minitans infected at least 90% of S. sclerotiorum sclerotia on treated crops by the end of the each season. C. minitans lowered the number of apothecia compared with the other treatments during the second year after the bean crop. C. minitans reduced the number of apothecia by ≈90% when compared with the control and Trichoderma spp. treatments and reduced disease incidence in the bean crop by 50% during the fifth year of the trial, resulting in a slightly higher yield. In 1993, but not 1994, a single spray with C. minitans was nearly as effective at reducing apothecia as three sprays (monitored in 1995). The final population size of sclerotia in soil at the end of the 7-year period was lower in all C. minitans plots than at the beginning of the trial, even in plots where two highly susceptible bean crops were grown during the period. The results indicate that the mycoparasite C. minitans has the potential to keep contamination of soil with sclerotia low in crop rotations with a high number of crops susceptible to S. sclerotiorum.


Plant Disease ◽  
2003 ◽  
Vol 87 (2) ◽  
pp. 159-166 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jianjun Hao ◽  
Krishna V. Subbarao ◽  
Steven T. Koike

Field experiments were conducted at Spence Road site and at the Hartnell College East Campus site in Salinas, CA, to determine the effects of crop rotation with broccoli or a fallow period on lettuce drop caused by Sclerotinia minor and the density of pathogen sclerotia in the soil. Treatments at the Spence Road site with low inoculum density (<7 sclerotia per 100 cm3 of soil) distributed randomly included: successive crops of lettuce (LLL), lettuce rotated with broccoli (LBL), and lettuce followed by a fallow period (LFL). Treatments at the Hartnell site with high inoculum density (>7 sclerotia per 100 cm3 of soil) distributed uniformly included: continuous lettuce (LLLL), broccoli-lettuce-broccoli-lettuce (BLBL), broccoli-broccoli-lettuce-lettuce (BBLL), and fallow-lettuce-fallow-lettuce (FLFL). At the Spence Road site, continuous lettuce did not increase lettuce drop incidence for at least 2 years, although an increase in soilborne sclerotia was observed annually but was below the threshold at which a correlation between inoculum density and disease incidence is observed. Rotation with broccoli resulted in small reductions in disease incidence only in the first year. The density of sclerotia was lowest in the LFL treatment, and the highest in the LLL. At the Hartnell site, rotation with broccoli significantly reduced both sclerotia and lettuce drop incidence. The number of broccoli crops rather than the sequence of lettuce rotations with broccoli was critical for reducing the numbers of S. minor sclerotia in soil. Fallowing after a lettuce crop resulted in marginal reductions in sclerotia and lettuce drop incidence. Viability of recovered sclerotia was not significantly different between treatments, although differences between seasons were detected. Results suggest that rotations with broccoli can be a practical lettuce drop management strategy.


2011 ◽  
Vol 101 (3) ◽  
pp. 358-366 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. Chitrampalam ◽  
B. M. Wu ◽  
S. T. Koike ◽  
K. V. Subbarao

Coniothyrium minitans, marketed as Contans, has become a standard management tool against Sclerotinia sclerotiorum in a variety of crops, including winter lettuce. However, it has been ineffective against lettuce drop caused by S. minor. The interactions between C. minitans and S minor were investigated to determine the most susceptible stage in culture to attack by C. minitans, and to determine its consistency on S minor isolates belonging to four major mycelial compatibility groups (MCGs). Four isolates of S. minor MCG 1 and 5 each from MCGs 2 and 3 and one from MCG 4 were treated in culture at purely mycelial, a few immature sclerotial, and fully mature sclerotial phases with a conidial suspension of C. minitans. Sclerotia from all treatments were harvested after 4 weeks, air dried, weighed, and plated on potato dextrose agar for recovery of C. minitans. S. minor formed the fewest sclerotia in plates that received C. minitans at the mycelial stage; C. minitans was recovered from nearly all sclerotia from this treatment and sclerotial mortality was total. However, the response of MCGs was inconsistent and variable. Field experiments to determine the efficacy of C. minitans relative to the registered fungicide, Endura, on lettuce drop incidence and soil inoculum dynamics were conducted from 2006 to 2009. All Contans treatments had significantly lower numbers of sclerotia than Endura and unsprayed control treatments, and drop incidence was as low as in Endura-treated plots (P > 0.05). Although the lower levels of lettuce drop in Contans treatments were correlated with significantly lower levels of sclerotia, the lower levels of lettuce drop, despite the presence of higher inoculum in the Endura treatment, was attributable to the prevention of infection by S. minor. A useful approach to sustained lettuce drop management is to employ Contans to lower the number of sclerotia in soil and to apply Endura to prevent S. minor infection within a cropping season.


Plant Disease ◽  
2006 ◽  
Vol 90 (3) ◽  
pp. 269-278 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. J. Hao ◽  
K. V. Subbarao

Field experiments were conducted to determine the population dynamics of Sclerotinia minor and incidence of lettuce drop at two sites during 1995 to 1998. Rotation treatments at the Spence site, which had a low density of inoculum (<7 sclerotia per 100 cm3 of soil) that was distributed randomly, included: continuous lettuce (LLL), lettuce rotated with broccoli (LBL), and lettuce followed by a fallow period (LFL). Treatments at the Hartnell site, which had a high density of inoculum (>7 sclerotia per 100 cm3 of soil) that was distributed uniformly, included: continuous lettuce (LLLL), alternate crops of broccoli and lettuce (BLBL), continuous broccoli or lettuce (BBLL), and fallow-lettuce-fallow-lettuce (FLFL). Under continuous lettuce cropping (LLLL) at the Hartnell site, a progressively aggregated spatial pattern of inoculum distribution developed, despite the initial uniform distribution of high inoculum density. In the fallow treatment (FLFL), the spatial pattern tended to be aggregated following a lettuce crop and less aggregated or random when left fallow. In contrast to these two treatments, treatments involving rotations with broccoli (BLBL and BBLL) exhibited consistently random spatial patterns of inoculum regardless of the crop in the field. The marginal increases in the number of sclerotia contributed by the few diseased lettuce plants were offset by the significant reductions in the number of sclerotia by the broccoli residue. Spatial patterns of disease incidence reflected the pattern of inoculum distribution in the soil at the Hartnell site. Higher inoculum density coupled with an aggregated distribution was associated with an aggregation in disease incidence. At Spence, this correlation was poor in most seasons because of progressive decline in the lettuce drop incidence and lack of treatment differences. In greenhouse experiments, the competence volume for S. minor sclerotia was quantified, which was calculated to be 25 3 for 100% infection and 200 cm3 for 50% infection. Thus, in 100 cm3 of soil, a minimum of four to five sclerotia are needed for 100% of infection, explaining the high correlation between inoculum density and disease incidence.


Plant Disease ◽  
1998 ◽  
Vol 82 (11) ◽  
pp. 1264-1270 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. N. Wegulo ◽  
X. B. Yang ◽  
C. A. Martinson

The responses of 12 soybean cultivars to Sclerotinia sclerotiorum were evaluated under field and controlled environment conditions. The 12 cultivars were planted in fields naturally or artificially infested with S. sclerotiorum and evaluated for disease incidence. In controlled environment studies, the cultivars were compared with respect to lesion size on detached leaves and stems inoculated with mycelial disks, incidence of stem rot following mycelial inoculation of foliage, lesion lengths on stems discolored by oxalic acid, and levels of soluble pigment(s) in stems. Significant differences (P ≤ 0.05) in disease incidence, lesion sizes, and levels of soluble pigment(s) were detected among the 12 cultivars in all evaluations, but ranking of cultivars varied among methods and experiments within methods. Corsoy 79 and S19-90 were consistently most resistant in all methods; whereas Kenwood, A2242, Bell, and Williams 82 were least resistant. Pearson correlation coefficients (R) for disease incidence between location years in field experiments (FE) ranged from 0.86 to 0.95. R values between FE and controlled environment experiments (CEE) ranged from 0.01 to 0.62 for detached leaf assays (DLA), -0.20 to 0.47 for lesion lengths on stems inoculated with mycelial disks (LLM), 0.38 to 0.45 for incidence of stem rot from mycelial inoculation of foliage (MIF), 0.08 to 0.66 for lesion lengths on stems discolored by oxalic acid (LLO), and -0.55 to -0.37 for levels of soluble stem pigment(s) (SSP). Absolute values of R between FE and CEE were 0.40 or greater in 40, 17, 33, 29, and 83% of all correlation analyses for DLA, LLM, MIF, LLO, and SSP, respectively. Spearman's coefficients of rank correlation (r s) between FE and CEE based on average performance were 0.55, -0.20, 0.40, 0.42, and -0.44 for DLA, LLM, MIF, LLO, and SSP, respectively. Disease development was slow when foliage was inoculated with a mycelial suspension. Based on experiment (E) by cultivar (C) interaction and rs values between replicate experiments within each method, determination of soluble stem pigment levels (0.86 ≤ rs ≤ 0.97; P < 0.001 for 100% of six analyses; P = 0.98 for E × C interaction) and measurement of lesion lengths on stems discolored by oxalic acid (0.27 ≤ rs ≤ 0.85; rs ≥ 0.58 and P ≤ 0.05 for 68% of 28 analyses; P = 0.07 for E × C interaction) were the most repeatable methods. The results from this study suggest that determination of levels of soluble pigments in stems, measurement of lesion lengths on stems discolored by oxalic acid, and the detached leaf assay may be better than mycelial inoculation of stems or foliage in evaluating soybean cultivars for field resistance to S. sclerotiorum.


Author(s):  
Kazi Kader ◽  
Scott Erickson ◽  
Robyne Bowness ◽  
Mark A Olson ◽  
Syama Chatterton

Diseases such as Sclerotinia white mold (SWM) caused by the fungus Sclerotinia sclerotiorum (Lib.) de Bary and Botrytis grey mold (BGM) caused by the fungus Botrytis cinerea Pers. may be limiting factors for lentil production in wetter areas of Alberta, Canada. Field trials were conducted at the Lethbridge Research and Development Centre from 2013-2015 to evaluate the response of lentil cultivars to SWM and BGM and yield impacts. Ten lentil cultivars from five market classes were evaluated under irrigated and dry land plots with two planting densities (120 plants m-2 and 160 plants m-2).Year and irrigation had the largest effect on disease incidence, with highest SWM incidence occurring under irrigation in 2013, followed by 2014 and 2015. Conversely, BGM incidence under irrigation was highest in 2015 and lowest in 2013, but levels were lower than SWM. Significantly (P <0.05) lower disease incidences were observed in dryland plots, which also produced higher yield than irrigated plots. Cultivars varied significantly in SWM incidence and yield under irrigated and dryland conditions, perhaps due to variable disease pressure, but there was no consistent trend in cultivar performance. BGM incidence was similar in cultivars, but differed among years. These findings indicate that SWM may be a limiting factor to lentil production in wetter areas, as the ten cultivars from five market classes tested were all highly susceptible to SWM.


Author(s):  
M. Novokhatskyi ◽  
◽  
V. Targonya ◽  
T. Babinets ◽  
O. Gorodetskyi ◽  
...  

Aim. Assessment of the impact of the most common systems of basic tillage and biological methods of optimization of nutrition regimes on the realization of the potential of grain productivity of soybean in the Forest-Steppe of Ukraine. Methods. The research used general scientific (hypothesis, experiment, observation) and special (field experiment, morphological analysis) methods Results. The analysis of the results of field experiments shows that the conservation system of soil cultivation, which provided the formation of 27.6 c/ha of grain, is preferable by the level of biological yield of soybean. The use of other systems caused a decrease in the biological yield level: up to 26.4 c/ha for the use of the traditional system, up to 25.3 c/ha for the use of mulching and up to 23.0 c/ha for the use of the mini-till. With the use of Groundfix, the average biological yield of soybean grain increases to 25.6 c / ha for application rates of 5 l/ha, and to 28.2 c/ha for application rates of 10 l/ha when control variants (without the use of the specified preparation) an average of 22.6 c/ha of grain was formed with fluctuations in soil tillage systems from 21.0 (mini-bodies) to 25.8 c/ha (traditional).The application of Groundfix (10 l/ha) reduced the seed abortion rate from 11.0% (average without biofertilizer variants) to 8.0%, forming the optimal number of stem nodes with beans, increasing the attachment height of the lower beans and improving other indicators of biological productivity soybeans. Conclusions. It has been found that the use of the canning tillage system generates an average of 27.6 cent soybean grains, which is the highest indicator among the main tillage systems within the scheme of our research. The use of Groundfix caused a change in this indicator: if the variants with a conservative system of basic tillage without the use of biological preparation (control) were formed on average 24.1 c/ha, the use of Ground Licks caused the increase of biological productivity up to 29.4 c/ha, and at a dose of 10 l/ha biological yield was 32.2 c/ha. It was found that both the use of Groundfix and the basic tillage system influenced the elements of the yield structure: the density of the plants at the time of harvest depended more on the tillage system than on the use of Groundfix; the use of Groundfix and increasing its dose within the scheme of our studies positively reflected on the density of standing plants; the height of attachment of the lower beans and reduced the abortion of the seeds.


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