A NEW PSYCHROPHILIC FUNGUS CAUSING GERMINATION FAILURE OF CONIFER SEEDS

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Abstract
The germination of coniferous seeds has been very low for several years at the Province of Ontario Nurseries located at Midhurst and Orono, in extreme cases being reduced to only 2%. Between 1959 and 1963 seeds which had failed to germinate were collected from beds of Pinus resinosa Sol., Pinus sylvestris L., Pinus strobus L., and Picea glauca (Moench.) Voss. From all such seeds tested a psychrophilic fungus was isolated, which grows between [long dash]1 and 27[degree]C but does not grow at 30[degree]C. In such non-germinated seeds the fungus is found in all cells of the endosperm and embryo, but instead of rotting the seeds, it mummifies them. The fungus was found in a viable state in infected seed 4 1/2 years after these were sown. The fungus has not yet been identified and no record has been found of its previous isolation. In this work it has been called the seed-fungus (S-fungus). It is not a damping-off fungus since it does not kill the seedlings before or as they emerge from the soil and, even when seedling stems are soft and succulent, it does not cause root rot or top killing. Under favorable conditions the fungus may kill 100% of conifer seeds in infested soil. Control was achieved through pelleting the seeds with Captan. The fungus produces sympo-diospores and has some affinity with the genera Costantinella and Nodulisporium, but differs significantly from them.
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