Surveys of stem base diseases and fusarium ear diseases in winter wheat in England, Wales and Scotland, 1989–1990

Abstract

An investigation into the incidence of stem base diseases and the pathogens associated with them was undertaken on winter wheat samples collected at growth stages 31 and 73-75 in 1989 and 1990. Symptoms at growth stage 31 were classified into 10 different types based on visual characteristics. Although Pseudocercosporelia herpotrichoides was associated mainly with eyespot lesions and Rhizoctonia spp. with sharp eyespot lesions, a significant number of isolates of each pathogen were taken from lesions classified as fusarium. Different types of fusarium 1esion.on stem bases at both growth stages were not associated with any one particular Fusarium or Microdochium species. 98% of P. herpotrichoides isolates obtained from eyespot lesions at growth stage 31 in 1989, and 87% of those obtained in 1990 were identified as the sub-species P. herpotrichoides var.acuformis. Microdochium nivale was more common than any of the Fusarium species at both growth stages, and was particularly prevalent in samples from Scotland at the earlier growth stage in 1989. Isolations from the top internodes at growth stage 73-75 indicated that systemic infection by Fusarium species, although present in some stems, was of little importance. Fusarium ear blight affected 0.4% of ears in 1989 and 0.5% in 1990. Glume spot lesions on the ears in 1990 were predominantly associated with Fusarium poae.

Pathogenicity to Potato Tubers of Fusarium spp. Isolated from Potato, Cereal and Forage Crops

“…including F. graminearum Schwabe (Snijders 1990;Parry et al 1995;Bourdages et al 2006), F. poae (Peck) Wollenw. (Parry et al 1995;Polley and Turner 1995;Bourdages et al 2006), F. avenaceum (Bourdages et al 2006), and F. sporotrichioides (Chelkowski et al 1989;Parry et al 1995;Bourdages et al 2006) (Weimer 1928) and root and wilt diseases of alfalfa and clover caused by F. oxysporum and F. avenaceum (Leath and Kendall 1978;Miller-Garvin and Viands 1994;Venuto et al 1995).…”

Restriction analysis of PCR amplified nrDNA regions revealed intraspecific variation within populations of Fusarium culmorum

“…The most plausible explanation for such a pattern seems to be the man-mediated introductions of F. culmorum across the continents, perhaps through agricultural trade. F. culmorum has frequently been reported to be seed borne [31] on a wide range of host plants [32]. It seems most likely, then, that once the respective genotypes of F. culmorum have emerged, they would have become established in seeds and/or host plants, and subsequently they became widespread through trans-global transportation of agricultural and horticultural plants, leading to the ¢xation of pioneer populations in di¡erent parts of the world.…”

Variability amongst strains of Fusarium poae assessed by vegetative compatibility and RAPD polymorphism

“…Strains of this species form a major component of the fungal flora of cereal grains (Wilcoxson et al, 1988;Tóth et al, 1993) and the fungus is frequently associated with ear blight symptoms on wheat (Parry et al, 1995;Polley & Turner, 1995). In addition, F. poae strains that are either pathogens or grain contaminants produce various mycotoxins (Abramson et al, 1993;Logrieco et al, 1990), which may pose serious hazards to human and animal health.…”