Abstract
Three components of parasitic fitness of C. carbonum (= Helminthosporium carbonum) race 3 were investigated in growth chamber experiments on 3-wk old susceptible corn (Zea mays) inbreed lines. Disease efficiency (DE), lesion length (LL), and sporulation capacity (SC) were studied. There were significant difference in DE, LL, and SC among isolates and among host .times. isolate interactions. Heritability estimates for DE, LL, and SC were 0.77, 0.87, and 0.60, respectively, indicating that it should be possible for natural selection to operate in favor of increased parasitic fitness of the pathogen.

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