Ecology of a Sterile White Pathogenic Basidiomycete in Corn, Peanut, Soybean, and Snap Bean Field Microplots

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Abstract
A sterile, white basidiomycete (SWB) caused a slight necrosis of seedling and mature corn roots. Crop rotation of soybean and corn increased the number of black lesions characteristic of SWB infection on corn roots. The fungus was recovered after 21 mo. from soil planted to corn, peanut and soybean but not from snap bean or fallow soil 16 mo. after infestation. Fumigation of microplots with DD-MENCS [Vorlex] before this study began did not eliminate Rhizoctonia solivan AG-4, and this fungus caused extensive root-hypocotyl necrosis of peanut, soybean and snap bean seedlings. Fewer colonies of AG-4 were isolated from peanut seed in pods attached to the plant at harvest in soil infested with the SWB than in the control. Fewer colonies of AG-4 were recovered from soil in peanut-corn and snap bean-corn than in corn-peanut and soybean-corn cropping systems. Although the SWB can cause extensive necrosis of corn roots in localized areas where inoculum potential is high, damage over a broad area of the Georgia coastal plain is probably slight.