Effect ofErwinia carotovora subsp.atroseptica alone and withAlternaria solani orVerticillium dahliae on disease development and yield of potatoes in Israel

Summary Tubers of 17 cultivars were inoculated withErwinia carotovora subsp.atroseptica (ECA) and planted in 1986 and 1987 in the Negev in randomised plots in three blocks where eitherVerticillium dahliae orAlternaria solani were present or where both were absent. ECA reduced the yield in the control block and exacerbated the yield losses in the disease blocks, but the intensity of symptom expression did not always accord with the extent of yield loss. ECA had a greater effect on plants infected withA. solani than on those withV. dahliae. It was possible to categorise the cultivars as resistant, intermediate or susceptible with respect to ECA and early blight, but resistance toV. dahliae could not be differentiated from foliage maturity.