Red clover response to Fusarium oxysporum and F. solani, causal agents of crown and root eots

Abstract

Summary Similarity of progeny reaction to mother strain reaction in red clover (Trifolium pratense) inoculated with the pathogenic fungi Fusarium oxysporum and F. solani, causal agents of red clover crown and root diseases, was studied. Transfer of resistance was investigated in 220 populations of 47 mother strains of the tentative cultivar, HŽ-V, of tetraploid clover in 17-days-old plants. A high percentage of progeny populations, 82% for F. oxysporum and 88% for F. solani, had a similar reaction to mother strain plants to the both pathogens. Similarity of progeny reaction to that of mother strain indicates that the degree of resistance to the pathogens might be heritable, and the transfer is possible.