Virulence ofGibberella pulicarison Potato Tubers and Its Relationship to a Gene for Rishitin Metabolism

Abstract

The ability of field strains of Gibberella pulicaris (Fusarium sambucinum) to cause dry rot of potato tubers is related to their ability to metabolize the potato phytoalexin rishitin. All highly virulent field strains studied to date have proven tolerant of and able to metabolize rishitin. Preliminary genetic analysis of one potato-pathogenic field strain, R-6380, suggested that multiple loci might confer rishitin metabolism and that not all of these loci are associated with virulence (A. E. Desjardins and H. W. Gardner, Mol. Plant-Microbe Interact. 2:26-34) (...)