Abstract
Late wilt, a severe vascular disease of maize caused by the fungus Harpophora maydis, is characterized by relatively rapid wilting of maize plants, before tasseling and until shortly before maturity. In Israel, the disease becomes a major problem in recent years. The pathogen currently controlled using varieties of maize has reduced sensitivity. In earlier work, we modified a molecular method for use as a diagnostic tool to evaluate the disease progress in field infested plants. Several fungicides suppressed H. maydis in vitro and in a detached root pathogenicity assay. Seedling pathogenicity assay enables us to identified H. maydis DNA in the host root and stem tissues 18 days after sowing in both susceptible and tolerant maize plants. Although the infested plants exhibited no wilt symptoms, their roots were significantly shorter in length. This seedling assay was used to demonstrate the suppressive effect of the fungicide Flutriafol on H. maydis virulence. The method of assaying the pathogen in a series of trials starting in a plate assay, followed by a detached root and resulting in a seedlings pathogenicity assay, using molecular and morphological approaches could be generalized to other plant pathogens.
Highlights
Late wilt, or black bundle disease, is a vascular wilt disease of corn caused by the soil-borne and seed-borne fungus, Harpophora maydis [1,2] W
Zea mays and Lupinus are the only known hosts of H. maydis, localized lesions occur on young cotton hypocotyls
By using the DNA-sequence-based approach [9,14], we studied the influence of these fungicides on the pathogenesis of H. maydis in seedlings in a growth room
Summary
Black bundle disease, is a vascular wilt disease of corn caused by the soil-borne and seed-borne fungus, Harpophora maydis [1,2] W. Gams [3] with synonyms: Cephalosporium maydis Samra, Sabet, & Hingorani and Acremonium maydis [4]. This disease was first reported as a vascular wilt disease of corn in Egypt in 1960 [5] and is considered endemic throughout Egypt. Serious economic losses from late wilt have been reported in Egypt, where 100% infection occurs in some fields, and in India, with an incidence as high as 70% and economic losses up to 51% [11]. Zea mays (corn, maize) and Lupinus (lupine) are the only known hosts of H. maydis, localized lesions occur on young cotton hypocotyls
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