ON THE PREVALENCE OF PATHOGENIC FORMS OF HELMINTHOSPORIUM SATIVUM AND FUSARIUM CULMORUM IN THE SOIL OF WHEAT FIELDS AND ITS RELATION TO THE ROOT ROT PROBLEM

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Abstract
A total of 227 isolates of Helminthosporium sativum and 286 of Fusarium sp. (culmorum type) were obtained from the diseased crown tissue of wheat stubble in five fields located in the black soil belt of central Alberta, and an attempt was made to determine their relative virulence on wheat seedlings and on mature plants. The experiment was carried out under greenhouse conditions, with a range of soil temperature. Sterilized, artificially infested soil in open pot culture was used. The results indicated that the Helminthosporium isolates were as a rule moderately to weakly pathogenic, and that most of the Fusarium isolates were only weakly pathogenic to wheat plants in the seedling stage. Some isolates of each pathogen exhibited extreme virulence, but judging from the results on seedling plants, virulent strains were rather rare in the fields studied. On mature plants both fungi showed about equal degrees of virulence, which was on the whole weak, and the results were not considered significant for the purpose of the study. More isolates of the greater degrees of virulence were obtained from certain fields than from others. In view of the great susceptibility of seedling plants in sterilized re-infested soil and the variable results, presumably caused by association effects of contaminants of the soil in open pot culture, it was concluded that the object of the study could not be attained by means of data based on the seedling stage, or by the technique employed. The possibility of significant results being secured in sterilized re-infested soil, protected from contamination, and based only on mature plants, is discussed in relation to the root rot problem.

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