Three nurseries produced apple rootstocks (M9) and budwood (cv. Royal Gala), which they exchanged at the end of the first year. Each nursery then budded its own budwood onto the rootstocks it had produced and that from the other two nurseries. Budded trees were grown on for a further year before being planted at HRI, East Malling in southern England; NIHPBS, Loughgall in Northern Ireland; and ADAS, Rosemaund in the West Midlands of England. Canker development was monitored twice a year. The position of the infected trees within the orchard was recorded, as was the position of the canker on each tree (main-stem or peripheral). Nectria galligena was isolated from representative cankers and analysed using molecular techniques. At the sites in Northern Ireland and HRI there was a strong positional effect, especially of peripheral cankers, indicating that most of the inoculum was external and had been spread from neighbouring orchards. There was little or no positional effect on main-stem cankers at any of the three sites. The proportions of different isolates taken from peripheral cankers was different in Northern Ireland from that in England, suggesting different populations associated with the geographic areas. In contrast, the populations of N. galligena obtained from main-stem cankers were very similar in England and Northern Ireland. It was concluded that a small proportion of trees developing canker were infected during propagation, with no symptom development until after planting. In a second trial it was demonstrated that trees infected during the propagation phase, and particularly at budding and heading back, could develop canker up to 3 years later. While it is clear that some canker developing in the orchard can be associated with the nursery of production, in climatic conditions conducive to the formation and dissemination of conidia, inoculum from surrounding infected orchards is the primary source of the pathogen. Aerial spread is therefore an essential element of the epidemiology of N. galligena , and its control is a crucial part of any canker-control programme.

No abstract

In 1986, mass‐mycelial isolates of Botrytis cinerea from 67 tomato crops in England and Wales were examined for benomyl and iprodione resistance. Of the 706 isolates obtained, 62.7% were resistant to benomyl at 2μg/ml and 43.2% were resistant to iprodione at 2 μg/ml. Iprodione resistance persisted in the absence of a dicarboximide spray programme. The incidence of benomyl resistance has not decreased since the last survey in 1984 in spite of a considerable reduction in the use of benzimidazole fungicides. There were no clear indications that the use of dichlofluanid influenced the incidence of benomyl or iprodione resistance. Disease control was poorer in crops with a higher incidence of iprodione resistance.

In a comparison of different methods for estimatingVerticillium dahliae in soil, 14 soil samples were analyzed in a blinded fashion by 13 research groups in seven countries, using their preferred methods. One group analyzed only four samples. Twelve soil samples were naturally infested, and two had known numbers of microsclerotia of V. dahliae added to them. In addition, a control was included to determine whether transport had an effect on the results. Results differed considerably among the research groups. There was a 118-fold difference between the groups with the lowest and highest mean estimates. Results of the other groups were evenly distributed between these extremes. In general, methods based on plating dry soil samples gave higher numbers of V. dahliae than did plating of an aqueous soil suspension. Recovery of V. dahliae from samples with added microsclerotia varied from 0 to 59%. Most of the variability within each analysis was at the petri dish level. The results indicate the necessity to check the performance of detection assays regularly by comparing recoveries with other laboratories, using a common set of soil samples. We conclude that wet plating assays are less accurate than dry plating assays.

The iso-epoxy dehydrogenas e gene of the patulin metabolic pathway was detected in environmental samples, Penicilliu m expansum and P. brevicompactum isolated from an organic orchard. Patulin was not detected from P. brevicompactum. Both traits were negative for other penicillia . In general, control of disease and mycotoxin reduction will be optimized only if all sites of infection and contaminatio n are targeted.