Impact of Foliar Diseases on Photosynthesis, Protein Content and Seed Yield of Alfalfa and Efficacy of Fungicide Application

Foliar pathogens attack alfalfa wherever the crop is grown, but their impact, especially on seed production, is poorly understood. In greenhouse trials, leaf spot injury caused by inoculation with various pathogens reduced the crude protein content of infected alfalfa leaves by 22% compared with a healthy control. There was a negative relationship between disease injury and the photosynthetic efficiency of alfalfa plants, as determined by measuring chlorophyll fluorescence in leaves from inoculated vs. non-inoculated seedlings. In field trials at two sites in Alberta from 2001 to 2003, inoculation with Phoma medicaginis increased disease incidence in four of six trials, Phoma sclerotioides increased incidence in four of five trials, and Leptosphaerulina trifolii and Stemphylium botryosum increased incidence in two of six trials. There was a trend for inoculation treatments to reduce seed yield, despite high levels of background infection by indigenous pathogens. The fungicides benomyl and propiconazole inhibited radial growth of Phoma spp. in vitro and reduced disease incidence in inoculated greenhouse experiments. In field trials, applications of benomyl and propiconazole reduced disease incidence, but did not always increase seed yield.     

Evaluation of fungicides for control of eyespot disease and yield loss nationships in winter wheat

Following the discovery of resistance to benzimidazole fungicides in the cereal eyespot pathogen Pseudocercosporella herpotrichoides in the UK in 1981, and an initial in vitro screen to select the fungicides with greatest activity against the pathogen, 40 field experiments were carried out between 1983 and 1986 to evaluate alternative fungicides for control of eyespot. At the majority of experimental sites, benomyl-resistant strains of the pathogen were present, and carbendazim did not control eyespot. Prochloraz was the most effective fungicide, reducing the eyespot index by 30–60%. There was no extra benefit from adding carbendazim to prochloraz. Flusilazole was almost as effective as prochloraz, but other fungicides had little or no effect. At sites with a high incidence of eyespot, prochloraz, with or without the addition of carbendazim, generally gave the largest yield increase. The mean yield increases each year were in the range 0·36–0·85 t/ha, and the greatest yield increase at any site was 2·27 t/ha. Most other fungicides increased yield, but carbendazim did not from 1984 to 1986. There were also yield increases at many sites with a low incidence of eyespot. Yield increases were associated with increases in thousand-grain weight at the majority of sites, but in only a few instances were there associated increases in specific weight. Prochloraz application at GS30-31 was cost effective at 71% of sites. At most sites, in regression of yield on eyespot, eyespot accounted for less than 25% of the variance in yield. The mean relationship between severe eyespot lesions and yield loss was such that each 1% increase in the percentage of tillers affected by severe eyespot was associated with a yield loss of 0·21 %. There was a significant positive correlation between eyespot at GS75 and GS30-31, and between yield increase from prochloraz treatment (at GS30-31) and eyespot at GS75, but not between yield increase and eyespot at GS30-31. The ADAS threshold for fungicide application of 20% tillers affected at GS30-31 was a reliable indicator of the cost-effectiveness of treatment at 60% of sites.     

β-Tubulins in Gibberella zeae: their characterization and contribution to carbendazim resistance

BACKGROUND: Fusarium head blight caused by Gibberella zeae is an important disease of wheat and barley because it reduces grain yield and quality and results in the contamination of grain with mycotoxins. Recent studies have shown that carbendazim resistance in field strains of G. zeae is not caused by mutation of the β‐tubulin gene (β₁tub), which is the case with other filamentous fungi, but that fungicide resistance is greatly increased by deletion of β₁tub. The aim of the present study was to clarify the function of β₁tub and its role in carbendazim resistance in G. zeae by artificial gene operation. RESULTS: Deletion of β₁tub reduced vegetative growth and pathogenicity but increased asexual reproduction in G. zeae. All the mutants were more resistant to carbendazim than parent strains. A three‐dimensional model of β₁tub was constructed, and the possible carbendazim binding site was analysed. CONCLUSION: β₁tub is not an essential gene in G. zeae, but it affects the sensitivity of the fungus to carbendazim. Copyright © 2012 Society of Chemical Industry     

Wild oat (Avena sterilis L.) competition with winter barley: plant density effects

The competitive interactions between Avena sterilis ssp. ludoviciana (Dur.) Nyman and winter barley have been studied, taking into consideration the densities of both species. As the density of A. sterilis increased, barley yield decreased exponentially. A 10% reduction in yield was found with wild oat densities ranging from 20–80 panicles m^–2, and yield losses reached 50%, with densities of >300 panicles m^–2, Barley grain yield was reduced by wild oats through a reduction in the number of fertile tillers. Climatic conditions during the growing seasons affected the response of barley to wild oat competition. In general, barley yields were relatively unaffected by seeding rates, with similar responses observed in the presence and in the absence of wild oat infestations. However, the highest yield losses were obtained with the lowest seeding rate (100 kg ha^–1). Furthermore, low barley densities allowed the wild oat plants to produce more seeds, increasing the potential infestation during the following season.     

Time of onset of competition and effects of various fractions of an Avena fatua L. population on spring barley

The growth and competition of wild oats (Avena fatua L.) emerging at different times, and the time of onset of competition by them were studied using natural populations in spring barley. In one experiment in 1972, wild oats emerging in the 0–0?5, 0?5–2?5, 2?5–4 crop leaf stages at densities of 54, 46, 15 m ^?2 respectively were allowed to compete all season with the crcp. These gave rise to 82, 17 and l% of all seed shed and caused 16%, and two non-significant yield losses respectively. In two other experiments in 1973, nearly all the wild oats that caused yield losses had emerged by the crop 2˙45 leaf stage. Where wild oats emerging up to the crop 2?5 leaf stage were removed, the later ones did not compensate by making extra growth. In one of these experiments in which densities of crop and weed were 416 and 414 m ², and in the other where they were 295 and 294 m ² respectively, grain yield losses were significant if the wild oats remained in the crop until the crop had 2?5–4?5 leaves and 4?5–6?5 leaves respectively. In a third experiment in 1973 with initial densities of 464 wild oats and 336 barley plants m ^?2, and where a top dressing of nitrogen was given at the crop 3–4 leaf stage, unlike the other two experiments in 1973 where all nitrogen was applied at sowing, no yield losses resulted unless the wild oats remained in the crop until after the crop 6 leaf stage.     

Benzimidazole resistance in Pseudocercosporella herpotrichoides: results of ADAS random surveys and fungicide trials in England and Wales, 1982–19841

Surveys of 59 and 528 randomly selected winter wheat and winter barley crops in 1982 and 1983 respectively, showed that benzimidazole-resistant strains of the eyespot fungus (Pseudocercosporella herpotrichoides) were common and widespread. The frequency of occurrence of resistant isolates, both in 1982 and 1983. was positively correlated with the number of benzimidazole fungicide applications since 1975. Resistance was much more frequent in R-type than in W-type strains of P. herpotrichoides. Fungicides or fungicide mixtures, applied to winter wheat at growth stage (GS) 31, were compared for control of eyespot at six sites in 1983 and one in 1984 where benzimidazole-resistant strains were readily detected prior to spraying. Carbendazim alone gave no control of eyespot and in some trials actually increased disease levels compared with the unsprayed control. Prochloraz, either alone or in mixture with carbendazim, was the most effective fungicide giving a moderate control of eyespot (33–42% reduction) and cost-effective yield increases. DPX-II6573, tested only in the 1984 trial, was as effective as prochloraz. The practical implications of these findings are discussed.     

Rhynchosporium leaf scald disease incidence: seed source and spatial pattern

A programme of field trials for the study of the winter barley–Rhynchosporium commune pathosystem is reported. The associated seedborne disease rhynchosporium leaf scald is regarded as having an important impact on barley yields. The analysis in this study relates to the impact of the seed source (commercial or farm-saved seed) on disease incidence and to the spatial pattern of rhynchosporium leaf scald disease incidence. Disease incidence data were calculated from field data recorded as disease severity. Mean disease incidence was higher in the crops grown from farm-saved seed than in those grown from commercial seed, although great agronomic significance cannot be attached to this result. The spatial pattern of rhynchosporium leaf scald disease incidence was characterized in terms of the binary power law (BPL) and was indicative of an aggregated pattern. Programme-wide BPL results were described using a novel phytopathological application of a random coefficients model. These results have application in field sampling for rhynchosporium leaf scald disease.     

Relating plant and pathogen development to optimise fungicide control of phoma stem canker (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Leptosphaeria maculans</Emphasis>) on winter oilseed rape (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Brassica</Emphasis><Emphasis Type="Italic">napus</Emphasis>)

In winter oilseed rape experiments at Rothamsted in 2000/01 to 2002/03 growing seasons, the severity of phoma stem canker epidemics in summer depended on the timing of phoma leaf spot epidemics in the previous autumn, and hence on the timing of Leptosphaeria maculans ascospore release. The first major release of L. maculans ascospores was earlier in 2000 (26 September) and 2001 (18 September) than in 2002 (21 October). Consequently, the autumn phoma leaf spot epidemic was also earlier in 2000 and 2001 than in 2002. The resulting stem canker epidemics were severe by harvest (July) in 2001 and 2002 but not in 2003. No correlation was found between the severity or duration of phoma leaf spotting (lesion days or lesion °C-days) and the subsequent severity of phoma stem canker epidemics. Rates of leaf production and loss were similar in the three growing seasons. Out of ca. 25 leaves produced on plants during each season, leaf numbers 10–14 generally remained on plants for the longest. Treatment with flusilazole + carbendazim in autumn decreased the severity of phoma leaf spotting for several weeks after treatment, decreased the severity of stem canker the following summer and increased yield significantly in 2001 and 2002 but not in 2003. The most effective timings for flusilazole + carbendazim application were when leaves 7–11 were present on most plants and at least 10% of plants were affected by phoma leaf spot. Two half-dose applications of fungicide reduced phoma stem canker and increased yield more than a single full dose application when phoma leaf spot epidemics were early (<800 °C-days after sowing).     

Barley yield losses due to defoliation of upper three leaves either healthy or infected at boot stage by <Emphasis Type="Italic">Pyrenophora teres</Emphasis> f. <Emphasis Type="Italic">teres</Emphasis>

This paper evaluates, in the greenhouse and under natural conditions, barley yield losses due to defoliation treatments of the upper three leaves either healthy or infected at the boot stage by Pyrenophora teres f. teres. Defoliation was assumed as a loss of a similar leaf area caused by net blotch disease severity of 100%. Contribution to grain yield was defined herein as a difference between defoliation treatments and a treatment where plants lost all their upper three leaves. In contrast, yield losses referred to differences in yield between defoliations and the control. In the greenhouse, removal of the antepenultimate leaf did not affect any yield component. For main stems, defoliating upper three leaves reduced grain yield by 30% and this was mainly due to flag leaf removal. These losses were similar to those induced by net blotch disease under natural conditions, but were of 42% for all tillers. Grain yield losses due to disease severity were not equivalent to the defoliation effect of a similar healthy leaf area. On the other hand and for a significant contribution to grain yield, flag leaf was dependent on the presence of the other two leaves. Inoculation and defoliation of 21 cultivars induced similar grain yield losses of 32%. However, biotic stress reduced by 40% the contribution of their upper three leaves. Under field conditions, yield losses were not significant until barley plants lost more than one upper leaf and flag leaf contribution was equivalent to that of the remaining leaves. Characteristic roots, defined as leaf coefficients for plant performance, were 0.13, 0.06 and 0.01 for the flag, penultimate and antepenultimate leaves, respectively. Because antepenultimate leaves become trivial at the boot stage, we propose that coefficients of the remaining leaves should be used when modelling yield losses due to barley foliar diseases.     

Influence of fungicidal control of cucumber and tomato grey mould (Botrytis cinerea) on fruit yield

The fungicides tebuconazole, tebuconazole + dichlofluanid, fenethanil, diethofencarb + carbendazim, and vinclozolin combined with chlorothalonil were tested for their ability to control grey mould (Botrytis cinerea Pers. ex Fr.) of cucumber and tomato grey mould in greenhouses under commercial conditions. In winter 1987/88 the number of diseased female fruits of cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.) was reduced by diethofencarb + carbendazim (2·5 mg dm^?3 each) by 93% and by tebuconazole (2·5 mg dm^?3)(phytotoxic when alone) or tebuconazole (1 mg dm^?3) + dichlofluanid (4 mg dm^?3) by 54–57%. Vinclozolin (5 mg dm^?3) + chlorothalonil (25 mg dm^?3) significantly reduced disease incidence on fruits by 40%. Infection foci on cucumber stems were significantly decreased by vinclozolin + chlorothalonil. A more pronounced decrease was obtained with diethofencarb + carbendazim, tebuconazole, or tebuconazole + dichlofluanid. During the season of winter 1988/89, tebuconazole + dichlofluanid (1·5 + 6 and 3 + 12 mg dm^?3) and RH7592 (1 mg dm^?3) significantly reduced diseased fruits by 30–71%. Grey mould of tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.) leaves was reduced by more than 90% and on fruits by 78–87% when tebuconazole + dichlofluanid (1·5 + 6 and 3 + 12 mg dm^?3) or diethofencarb + carbendazim (2·5 mg dm^?3 each) were applied. Yields of cucumber fruits of the common parthenocarpic cv. Kasem 292 were weighed. There was no correlation between disease level and yield in any experiment, plot or date except for two measurements. Compesation in fruit production by the plant may be regarded as the reason for no positive yield response to efficient control. The possibility of reducing fungicide application is discussed. Control of grey mould on tomato resulted in yield increase.     

Performance and uptake of some carbendazim-producing fungicides applied as seed treatments to spring barley,in relation to their physicochemical properties

The performance of carbendazim and its chemical precursors benomyl, thiophanatemethyl and methyl 4-(2-aminophenyl)-3-thioallophanate ( I ) ( “NF48” ) as systemic fungicidal seed treatments on barley was investigated. In field trials all treatments significantly decreased smut (Ustilago nuda) at 3.2 g kg^-1 of seed; the order of effectiveness was I > benomyl > thiophanate-methyl > carbendazim. Control of barley mildew (Erysiphe graminis) followed a similar pattern but results were less clear-cut. Measurements of uptake and translocation from seeds, treated with radiolabelled fungicide and planted in pots of Woburn soil in a controlled environment room, showed that seedlings accumulated much more I than the other compounds over 28 days. This substantial early uptake into leaves could explain why I was particularly effective against smut in the field trials. Comparisons of amounts taken up. with solubility in water, octanol/water partition coefficient, extent of adsorption on soil and pK_a values suggested that the effects of these properties on availability in the soil solution may be more important than their influence on penetration into the root in determining relative uptake and disease control in the case of localised applications such as seed treatments.     

Meta‐analytic modelling of the incidence–yield and incidence–sclerotial production relationships in soybean white mould epidemics

White mould (Sclerotinia sclerotiorum) is a destructive disease of soybean worldwide. However, little is known of its impact on soybean production in Brazil. A meta‐analytic approach was used to assess the relationship between disease incidence and soybean yield (35 trials) and between incidence and sclerotia production (29 trials) in experiments conducted in 14 locations across four seasons. Region, site elevation and season included as moderators in random‐effects and random‐coefficients models did not significantly explain the variability in the slopes of the incidence–yield relationship. The Pearson's r, obtained from back‐transforming the Fisher's Z estimated by an overall random‐effects model, showed that incidence of white mould was moderately and negatively correlated with yield (r = ?0.76, P < 0.0001). A random‐coefficients model estimated a slope of ?17.2 kg ha^?1%^?1, for a mean attainable yield of 3455 kg ha^?1, indicating that a 10% increase in white mould incidence would result in a mean yield reduction of 172 kg ha^?1. White mould incidence and production of sclerotia were strongly and positively correlated (r = 0.85, P < 0.0001). For every 10% increase in white mould incidence, 1 kg ha^?1 of sclerotia was produced. The relationship between disease incidence and production of sclerotia was stronger in southern regions and at higher elevation. In the absence of management, economic losses associated with white mould epidemics, assuming 43% incidence in 22% of the soybean area, were estimated at approximately US $1.47 billion annually within Brazil.     

Yield Reduction in Wheat in Relation to Leaf Disease From Yellow (tan) Spot and Septoria Nodorum Blotch

Yellow or tan spot (caused by Pyrenophora tritici-repentis) and septoria nodorum blotch (caused by Phaeosphaeria nodorum) occur together and are a constraint to wheat yields in Australia. Recently, higher crop yields and lower fungicide costs have made fungicides an attractive management tool against these diseases. Yield-loss under different rates of progress of yellow spot and septoria nodorum blotch was examined in four experiments over three years to define the relationship between disease severity and yield. In these experiments, differences in disease were first promoted by inoculations either with P. tritici-repentis-infected stubble or aqueous spore suspensions of P. nodorum. Disease progress was further manipulated with foliar application of fungicide. The pattern of disease development varied in each year under the influence of different rainfall patterns. The inoculation and fungicide treatments produced differences in disease levels after flag leaf emergence. The infection of yellow spot or septoria nodorum blotch caused similar losses in grain yield, ranging from 18% to 31%. The infection by either disease on the flag or penultimate leaf provided a good indication of yield-loss. Disease severity on flag leaves during the milk stage of the crop or an integration of disease as area under the disease progress curve on the flag leaves based on thermal time explained more than 80% variance in yield in a simple regression model. The data provided information towards the development of disease management strategies for the control of septoria nodorum blotch and yellow spot.     

Angular leaf spot of phaseolus beans: relationships between disease, healthy leaf area, and yield

ABSTRACT Five field experiments were conducted to investigate the relationship between the severity of visible disease (X), area under the disease progress curve (AUDPC), healthy leaf area index on any given day (HLAI), radiation intercepted by healthy leaf area on any given day (HRI), healthy leaf area duration (HAD), total healthy leaf area absorption (HAA), and yield of Phaseolus beans, cultivars Rosinha and Carioca, inoculated with Phaeoisariopsis griseola at several doses. In general, yield was not related to disease severity (X) or AUDPC. In contrast, the highest yields were always related to the highest values of HAD and HAA. The relationship between yield and HAD was linear in each of five trials (29.9 < R(2) < 70.2%, P < 0.001). The relationship between yield and HAA was linear in four of the trials (52.3 < R(2) < 70.3%, P < 0.001) and exponential in one of them (in which the plant canopy was the largest). Singlepoint models using HRI to estimate yield at various times during the crop season were developed. The slope of the yield-HRI relationship proved to be stable (26.8 +/-2.4 g MJ(-1)), regardless of cultivar, locale, planting date, and bean growth stage (from R5 to R8). The yield-HLAI relationship proved to be less consistent. HRI is proposed as a key explanatory variable for a transportable system of disease management; it may be useful in producing precise recommendations at the farm level.     

Comparison of Programmed and Supervised Control Systems for Field Crops1

The effects of increasing inputs of pesticides, nitrogen and growth regulators were studied in field trials in winter wheat and spring barley in southern Sweden. The trials also included a comparison of different strategies: no control, routine control and supervised control. In 1982 EPIPRE, a computerized pest and disease management system developed in the Netherlands, was included. High inputs of nitrogen only slightly influenced the yields. In winter wheat, routine control, comprising one insecticide and three fungicide sprays, heavily increased the yield and was more profitable than supervised control. On an average only 1.2 pesticide sprays were carried out in supervised plots. However, in spring barley supervised control was slightly more profitable than routine control comprising one fungicide and one insecticide application. The average number of sprays in supervised was 0.6 only. In both winter wheat and barley the yield increase for routine control significantly increased with increasing nitrogen level. In barley a significant relationship between number of aphids per tiller and yield increase could be proved.     

Ectopic expression of barley constitutively activated ROPs supports susceptibility to powdery mildew and bacterial wildfire in tobacco

ROPs (also called RACs) are RHO-like monomeric G-proteins of plants, well-known as molecular switches in plant signal transduction processes, which are involved in plant development and a variety of biotic and abiotic stress responses. The barley (Hordeum vulgare) ROPs RACB, RAC1 and RAC3 have been shown to be involved in cellular growth, polarity and in susceptibility to the biotrophic barley powdery mildew fungus Blumeria graminis f.sp. hordei. We produced transgenic tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum) plants expressing constitutively activated (CA) mutants of the barley ROPs RACB and RAC3 to monitor the impact of heterologous ROP expression on cell polarity and disease susceptibility of tobacco. CA HvROPs influenced leaf texture, disturbed root hair polarity and induced cell expansion in tobacco. Both barley ROPs induced super-susceptibility to the compatible powdery mildew fungus Golovinomyces cichoracearum but only CA HvRAC3 induced super-susceptibility to the bacterial leaf pathogen Pseudomonas syringae pv. tabaci. Data suggest involvements of ROPs in tobacco cell expansion, polar growth and in response to bacterial and fungal leaf pathogens.     

Some studies of competition between Avena fatua L. and spring barley I. The influence of A. fatua on yield of barley

A. fauta reduced yields of spring barley in the majority of 51 experiments carried out during 1971 and 1972. Infestations ranging from 8 to 662 seedlings/m² in the spring resulted in yield reductions varying from nothing to 72%; in 11 experiments these exceeded 1–2 t/ha. Reductions in yield were poorly correlated with numbers of seedlings, panicles or wild oat seeds produced. However, there was a good correlation between yield loss and the dry weight of wild oats at harvest. Growth and competitive effects of wild oats differed between the two years. Grain losses were due mainly to reductions in the numbers of ear bearing barley tillers. The influence and significance of the effect of competition on the size of barley grains is discussed.     

Uptake and translocation of fungicides in wheat after seed treatment,as measured by disease response to Fusarium culmorum

The toxicities of five systemic fungicides [benomyl, carbendazim, methyl 4-(2- aminophenyl)-3-thioallophanate (NF48), thiabendazole and thiophanate-methyl] and of two non-systemic fungicides (guazatine and phenylmercury acetate) against Fusarium culmorum were compared on agar plates; their performance as seed treatments was measured by inoculating the shoot bases of wheat seedlings with F. culmorum in pot experiments. The two most effective compounds, benomyl and thiabendazole, and the less effective thiophanate-methyl, were evaluated in further seed treatment experiments in which leaf sheaths and roots of slightly older plants were infected. The three fungicides protected the first leaf sheath for more than 5 weeks, but thiophanate-methyl was least effective. Against root disease, they were effective when infection was mild, but only thiabendazole significantly controlled severe infection. Bioautography confirmed that fungicide levels in shoots were greater after benomyl and thiabendazole, than after carbendazim and thiophanate-methyl treatments, and that concentrations of fungicide after benomyl, carbendazim and thiophanate-methyl treatments generally declined between 5-13 weeks after treatment. Thiabendazole produced a second fungitoxic component detectable in plants after 34 days.     

Evaluation of an action threshold‐based IPM wheat model in Rheinland (Germany) in 1999/2001*

Under the specific agricultural and climatic conditions of Rheinland (DE), 48 field trials in three years demonstrated the practicability of the action threshold‐based fungicide strategy of the IPM wheat model. The underlying data for action thresholds and dosage of fungicides applied are outlined. The cereal pathogens concerned, predominantly Mycosphaerella graminicola and Puccinia recondita, were controlled in the early stages of epidemic development using reduced rates of fungicides. The IPM wheat model gave a high efficacy of control, in terms of disease incidence and disease severity, under both low and high disease pressure conditions. The yield levels resulting from this effective reduction in diseases were nearly the same as those of the disease‐free variant. Total yield increase varied between 15% and 30% with an overall average of around 20%, and resulted in monetary benefits of 50–100 EUR ha^?1 in the years considered.     

Fungicide Treatment Increases Yield of Cereal Cultivars by Reducing Disease and Delaying Senescence1

The results of 21 winter wheat and 32 spring barley trials done in the United Kingdom showed that cultivars differed significantly in their yield response to a standard fungicide treatment. Regression analyses showed that yield responses were significantly related to disease reduction, particularly that of mildew, although the proportion of variance accounted for was small. Measurements made on seven winter wheat trials indicated that the percentage of leaf area remaining green after anthesis was increased by the fungicide treatment to a greater extent than could be attributed to disease reduction alone. In some of these trials, yield responses were more closely correlated with the increase in leaf area remaining green than with disease reduction.