Characterization of Fusarium spp. responsible for causing dry rot of potato in Great Britain

Abstract

A 3-year survey was undertaken to establish the relative frequency of different Fusarium spp. present as inoculum on potato tubers collected from four regions of Great Britain. A total of 219 samples (comprising 10 950 tubers) were collected from the 2000, 2001 and 2002 crops and processed to recover dry rot-producing isolates. In total, 228 isolates of Fusarium spp. were recovered. Most (94·7%) of these isolates were attributed to one of four Fusarium species: F. coeruleum, F. avenaceum, F. culmorum and F. sambucinum (formerly F. sulphureum) . The incidence of the combined Fusarium spp. increased the further south the crops had been grown. Fusarium coeruleum was the most commonly isolated species in each survey year, comprising 37 to 52% of the total Fusarium species. Selected isolates of each species were evaluated for their ability to produce rots in potato tubers. Fusarium sambucinum was a more aggressive pathogen than the other Fusarium species in eight out of 10 cultivars. Fusarium avenaceum and F. culmorum were relatively weaker pathogens. However, these species were aggressive on some cultivars, notably Hermes. The selected isolates were also assessed for their sensitivity to the fungicides thiabendazole and imazalil. Using in vitro tests, 65% of F. sambucinum isolates were resistant to thiabendazole and 7% of F. avenaceum isolates were resistant to imazalil. Tubers treated with imazalil yielded a higher proportion of isolates of F. avenaceum than those that were untreated. Similarly, a higher proportion of F. sambucinum isolates were recovered from tubers treated with thiabendazole than from those that were not treated.

Diversity of Fusarium spp. associated with dry rot of potato tubers in Poland

“…Large ranges in a disease development capabilities of different Fusarium spp. were also reported in other studies (Choiseul et al 2007;Peters et al 2008a;Peters et al 2008b).…”

“…Knowing which Fusarium spp. are present in the potato tubers with dry rot could help minimizing crop losses and mycotoxin contamination by fungicide application, since the resistance to fungicides might differ in frequency among isolates of different species (Peters et al 2008a). Moreover, the acquired data may be helpful for planning a crop rotation, but also a crop in the vicinity of the area surveyed.…”

“…isolates of F. sambucinum have caused significantly larger lesions than the isolates of other tested species (Gachango et al 2012). In potato dry rot samples, Fusarium isolates that are non-pathogenic to potato in the laboratory assessment are frequently identified (Peters et al 2008a;Peters et al 2008b). Therefore, it is interesting to know which species are present in potato tubers regardless of their role, so the risk of possible mycotoxin contamination can be estimated.…”

“…F. avenaceum dominated potato Fusarium population investigated between 1997 and 2000 in Scotland (Choiseul et al 2007), while F. solani var. coeruleum dominated in four regions of Great Britain, including eastern Scotland, in 2000-2002(Peters et al 2008a). Globally, 13 Fusarium species are associated with potato dry rot (Cullen et al 2005).…”

Control of Fusarium Dry Rot Incited by Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. tuberosi Using Sargassum vulgare Aqueous and Organic Extracts

“…Fusarium dry rot is caused by several species of the soilborne fungus Fusarium which affects potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) tubers during their storage [1]. F. sambucinum, F. solani var.…”