A Test for Randomness of Infection by Soilborne Pathogens

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Abstract
A simple method is described to test for randomness of infection in inoculum density experiments involving soil-borne pathogens. The method tests the goodness-of-fit over a range of inoculum densities of the observed numbers of infected and uninfected roots with those predicted by the Poisson distribution. The method requires scores only of the presence-or-absence of infection on roots and not of the numbers of infections on a root. Data from inoculum density experiments involving the take-all fungus, Gaeumannomyces graminis and seedlings of wheat and barley are used to illustrate the application of the test.