Pollination Effects on Pearl Millet Ergot

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Abstract
Pollination of inflorescences of 3 pearl millet male-sterile lines before or at the same time as inoculation with C. fusiformis conidia reduced ergot to < 3% infected florets. Pollination 16 h after inoculation reduced ergot to 7-21% compared with 60-86% for inoculated, nonpollinated checks. Pearl millet pollen germinated in 1 h when incubated in a 10% sucrose solution, whereas C. fusiformis conidia did not germinate in < 16 h of incubation. Results from inoculation of inflorescences of male-sterile lines at different stages of flowering in the absence of pollen, along with observations on the effects of pollination on stigma morphology and longevity, indicated that ergot infection in pearl millet occurs mainly through the stigmas, and that pollination protects against infection probably because it induces rapid withering of stigmas. The results help explain the increased ergot susceptibility of pearl millet F1 hybrids compared with traditional cultivars, and have important implications for ergot-resistance screening methods and for the development of cultural measures to control this disease.