Overwinter survival and alternative crop hosts of fungi and oomycetes present in field pea residue on the Canadian prairies

Abstract

Root rot is an important disease of field pea (Pisum sativum L.) on the Canadian Prairies. The composition and alternative crop hosts of fungal and oomycete communities colonizing pea residues from Alberta and Manitoba were studied in field trials over two years. Standing pea residues were sampled from diseased and asymptomatic patches of 17 commercial fields in 2013 and 2014 after harvest and again in early spring the following year prior to seeding. The pea residue was ground to a powder and mixed with sterile Cornell potting mix. Plants of pea, wheat, and canola were grown in this mixture under controlled conditions. The root rot severity on each plant was evaluated and sections from diseased roots were plated on agar medium. Fungal and oomycete communities isolated from symptomatic roots were identified based on culture morphology and PCR analysis. About 3000 fungal isolates, belonging to some 50 species, were identified. Canola was less susceptible to infection than pea or wheat. Fusarium avenaceum (Fr.) Sacc. was the most abundant species infecting the three hosts; F. culmorum (Wm.G.Sm.) Sacc. and Bipolaris sorokiana (Sacc.) Shoemaker were more frequently isolated from wheat, and F. solani (Mart.) Sacc., F. oxysporum Schlecht. and Aphanomyces euteiches Drechsler were more frequently isolated from pea. Pathogen communities from asymptomatic and diseased patches of fields were similar. Overall, composition of the fungal community changed over winter, but the most abundant species did not change. The results show that multiple pathogens, and particularly Fusarium spp., can survive overwinter on pea residue.