Patterns of development of Septoria nodorum and S. tritici in some winter wheat crops in Western Europe, 1981-83

In data collected at 19 sites in Western Europe during 1981-83. two patterns of development of Septoria nodorum and S. tritici on foliage of winter wheal were distinguished. In sudden outbreaks, lesions appeared simultaneously on the upper leaf layers of crops, usually after the end of stem extension; these outbreaks were ascribed to short, heavy rain storms in which pycnidiospore inoculum in basal leaves was elevated up to 60 cm through the crop canopy. Gradual epidemics were characterized by disease arising on successive leaf layers as they appeared during sustained periods of weather suitable for inoculum transport and infection.
The data indicate incubation periods of 2-4 weeks for S. nodorum and 3-5 weeks for S. tritici. it is suggested that a leaf layer cannot normally sustain more than one pathogen generation and that its infection arises from inoculum borne on leaves older than in the layer situated immediately below it. The potential level of disease in a crop may relate to the amount of inoculum present in spring. The proportions of disease caused by the two Septoria species varied greatly between sites and years, but the data provided no explanation.
It is concluded that a septoria forecast scheme needs to recognise the importance of sudden disease outbreaks and to include not only weather but also host growth and inoculum factors.     

Interference of nutrients with fungicide activity against Septoria nodorum on wheat leaves

The effect of nutrients on reduction of the germination and mycelial growth of Septoria nodorum by the fungicides propiconazole, fenpropimorph and prochloraz, and on the reduction of S. nodorum infection by prochloraz, was tested on wheat plants in a controlled environment. The nutrients tested were aphid honeydew, sucrose, a mixture of amino acids and combinations of sucrose with yeast extract and amino acids, all in different concentrations. All nutrients could stimulate S. nodorum infection in combination with the tested prochloraz concentrations (4.5–45 mg a.i./1), but amino acids did not significantly stimulate infection in the fungicide-free treatments. The stimulating effect of the nutrients was generally stronger with higher nutrient/fungicide ratios. Aphid honeydew had more effect than its main components sucrose and amino acids separately. Antagonism between nutrients and prochloraz was determined with the Colby method and from dose-response curves by comparing ED₅₀ S and drawing antagonism isoboles. Aphid honeydew, sucrose and amino acids caused an up to 10-fold increase of the ED₅₀ and can be considered antagonistic to prochloraz.     

Mechanisms of Induced Resistance in Barley Against Drechslera teres

ABSTRACT Quantitative and qualitative histopathological methods and molecular analyses were used to study the mechanisms by which preinoculation with either of the nonbarley pathogens, Bipolaris maydis and Septoria nodorum, inhibited growth of Drechslera teres. Collectively, our data suggest that induced resistance is the principal mechanism responsible for impeding the pathogen. The enhancement of resistance in the host was primarily manifested during penetration by D. teres, and after penetration, where growth of D. teres ceased soon after development of infection vesicles. Thus, 24 h after pretreatment with B. maydis or S. nodorum, the penetration frequency from D. teres appressoria was reduced from 42.7% in the controls to 9.5 and 14.8%, respectively. The reductions were associated with increased formation of fluorescent papillae in induced cells (early defense reaction). The postpenetrational inhibition of D. teres completely stopped fungal growth and was apparently linked to an enhancement of multicellular hypersensitive responses in inducer-treated leaves (late defense reaction). Papillae formation and multicellular hypersensitive reactions were also observed in fully susceptible, noninduced control leaves, but they were inadequate to stop fungal progress. Northern blots from leaves treated with either inducer alone support the conclusion that induced resistance is involved in suppression of D. teres by increased formation of papillae and hypersensitive reactions. Thus, the blots showed strong expression of several defense response genes that are involved in these reactions in barley attacked by Erysiphe graminis f. sp. hordei.     

Effects of straw and silicon soil amendments on some foliar and stem-base diseases in pot-grown winter wheat

Four foliar and two stem-base pathogens were inoculated onto wheat plants grown in different substrates in pot experiments. Soils from four different UK locations were each treated in three ways: (i) straw incorporated in the field at 10 t ha⁻¹ several months previously; (ii) silicon fertilization at 100 mg L⁻¹ during the experiment; and (iii) no amendments. A sand and vermiculite mix was used with and without silicon amendment. The silicon treatment increased plant silica concentrations in all experiments, but incorporating straw was not associated with raised plant silica concentrations. Blumeria graminis and Puccinia recondita were inoculated by shaking infected plants over the test plants, followed by suitable humid periods. The silicon treatment reduced powdery mildew ( B. graminis ) substantially in sand and vermiculite and in two of the soils, but there were no effects on the slight infection by brown rust ( P. recondita ). Phaeosphaeria nodorum and Mycosphaerella graminicola were inoculated as conidial suspensions. Leaf spot caused by P. nodorum was reduced in silicon-amended sand and vermiculite; soil was not tested. Symptoms of septoria leaf blotch caused by M. graminicola were reduced by silicon amendment in a severely infected sand and vermiculite experiment but not in soil or a slightly infected sand and vermiculite experiment. Oculimacula yallundae (eyespot) and Fusarium culmorum (brown foot rot) were inoculated as agar plugs on the stem base. Severity of O. yallundae was reduced by silicon amendment of two of the soils but not sand and vermiculite; brown foot rot symptoms caused by F. culmorum were unaffected by silicon amendment. The straw treatment reduced severity of powdery mildew but did not detectably affect the other pathogens. Both straw and silicon treatments appeared to increase plant resistance to all diseases only under high disease pressure.     

Effects of treatments to perennial ryegrass on the development of Septoria spp. in a subsequent crop of winter wheat

An experiment started in spring 1979 tested the effects of different treatments to perennial ryegrass, established as pure stands or undersown in spring wheat, on the severity of septoria diseases on the grass and in a following crop of winter wheat, sown in autumn 1980. Other plots were fallowed in 1979 and 1980 before sowing to winter wheat, also in autumn 1980.
Septoria tritici was most severe in winter wheat after fallow and least severe in wheat that had been direct-drilled after ryegrass. These effects were attributed to differences in amounts of available nitrogen, and consequent differences in crop growth, rather than to any differences in primary inoculum.
Symptoms attributed to S. nodorum on the ryegrass were more common where the grass had been established under spring wheat than where it had been sown as a pure stand. They also tended to be more common where ryegrass had been inoculated with spores of S. nodorum than where it had been sprayed with captafol. Similar effects on symptoms attributed to Septoria spp. (mostly S. tritici ) on the wheat were apparent in July. The results support the conclusion that the greater severity of septoria diseases that often occurs on wheat after grass than after non-graminaceous breaks, is probably due in part to survival of the pathogens on grass and, in some circumstances, on debris remaining from a previous wheat crop. However, other factors are also likely to be involved.     

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.     

Dynamics of primary and secondary infection in take-all epidemics

ABSTRACT Using a combination of experimentation and mathematical modeling, the effects of initial (particulate) inoculum density on the dynamics of disease resulting from primary and secondary infection of wheat by the take-all fungus, Gaeumannomyces graminis var. tritici, were tested. A relatively high inoculum density generated a disease progress curve that rose monotonically toward an asymptote. Reducing the initial inoculum density resulted in a curve that initially was monotonic, rising to a plateau, but which increased sigmoidally to an asymptotic level of disease thereafter. Changes in the infectivity of particulate inoculum over time were examined in a separate experiment. Using a model that incorporated terms for primary and secondary infection, inoculum decay, and host growth, we showed that both disease progress curves were consistent with consecutive phases dominated, respectively, by primary and secondary infection. We examined the spread of disease from a low particulate inoculum density on seminal and adventitious root systems separately. Although seminal roots were affected by consecutive phases of primary and secondary infection, adventitious roots were affected only by secondary infection. We showed that the characteristic features of disease progress in controlled experiments were consistent with field data from crops of winter wheat. We concluded that there is an initial phase of primary infection by G. graminis var. tritici on winter wheat as seminal roots grow through the soil and encounter inoculum, but the rate of primary infection slows progressively as inoculum decays. After the initial phase, there is an acceleration in the rate of secondary infection on both seminal and adventitious roots that is stimulated by the increase in the availability of infected tissue as a source of inoculum and the availability of susceptible tissue for infection.     

«Septoria - the lurking threat to wheat yields>>

A review of Septoria diseases of wheat is given with particular emphasis on the resistance of this host to Septoria nodorum Berk. Following a general historical outline, the effects of glume blotch on the wheat plant are described, including symptoms and physiological changes. Brief reference is made to epidemiological studies, and then resistance breeding and genetic studies are discussed. The role of antifungal compounds in resistance is dealt with in more detail, and with reference to the author's own research results. It is concluded that no single mechanism of resistance of wheat to S. nodorum emerges and that the resistance factors appear to be varying quantitatively rather than qualitatively.     

Effect of foliar diseases of wheat on the physiological processes affecting yield under semi-arid conditions

The effects of Septoria leaf blotch (caused by Mycosphaerella graminicola) and leaf rust (caused by Puccinia recondita ) on the physiological processes affecting yield were studied under semi-arid conditions in Israel. In the absence of water stress, photosynthetic activity decreased as the rate of disease development increased. Transpirational activity was reduced in leaves infected by Septoria leaf blotch, but intensified in leaves with slight leaf rust infections (0.5-5% severity). When leaf rust seventy exceeded 5%, the transpirational water loss declined. Both diseases were associated with a decrease in the maximum rate of grain-weight accumulation, but did not affect the duration of weight accumulation. An inverse linear relationship between disease and final grain weight was observed. Under conditions of water stress, photosynthetic activity of leaves slightly infected by Septoria leaf blotch (1-5"., severity) was greater than that of uninfected leaves. Severely infected leaves (" 25% severity) photosynthesized the least. Both diseases were associated with a decrease in the maximum rate of grain weight accumulation, but the duration of accumulation was longer in tillers with a slow rate of disease development than in uninfected tillers. The relationship between disease and final grain weight in these cases was parabolic; yield was increased at low levels of infection. Theoretical explanations and practical implications of these phenomena are presented and discussed.     

一株对香蕉枯萎病菌具有良好拮抗作用的菊欧氏杆菌

在香蕉枯萎病重病园区,从生长正常香蕉假茎内分离获得一株细菌E353菌株。经对峙培养、孢子萌发抑制测定,E353对香蕉枯萎病菌菌丝生长、孢子萌发具有良好抑制效果。盆栽试验表明,E353活菌培养液（750ml／株）浸根处理,对香蕉枯萎病的防效为60．67％。经形态学、生理生化和16S rDNA序列比对,将E353鉴定为菊欧氏杆菌Erwinia chrysanthemi。     

Physiological Aspects Related to Tolerance of Spring Wheat Cultivars to Septoria tritici Blotch

ABSTRACT The susceptible wheat cultivar Miriam exhibited tolerance under severe infection of Septoria tritici blotch (STB). Nethouse and greenhouse trials confirmed former field results in which losses in grain weight of 'Miriam' wheat due to STB infection were significantly lower than those of the susceptible cultivar Barkai, under equivalent severity and the same disease progress curve. Several physiological mechanisms that may explain this tolerance of 'Miriam' wheat were studied. A comparison between protected and infected plants proved that carbohydrate reserves in the culms and other vegetative plant parts did not account for the lower losses in grain weight of 'Miriam'. Each tiller was shown to be independent in its supply of carbohydrates to its grains, and no import from secondary tillers was observed. Differences in the ratio between grain weight and vegetative biomass could not explain the sustained grain filling of infected plants of 'Miriam'. The daily balance of CO(2) exchange of the ears was negative, since carbon fixation by the spike in the light was more than counterbalanced by night time spike respiration. Radioisotope studies revealed that mature, infected 'Miriam' plants maintained as large a percentage of the carbohydrates fixed at the vegetative stage and early grain filling as healthy plants. On the other hand, under the same conditions, infected 'Barkai' plants lost a larger fraction of these carbohydrates. The rate of carbon fixation per unit of chlorophyll and per residual green leaf area of infected 'Miriam' was higher than in healthy plants. It is proposed that this enhancement of photosynthesis in residual green tissue of infected plants of the tolerant cultivar Miriam compensates for the loss of photosynthesizing tissue due to STB.     

Adaptation of Septoria nodorum to wheat or barley on detached leaves

Single-spore cultures of wheat- and barley-adapted isolates of Septoria nodorum were serially passaged through detached leaves of wheat or barley. Rare instances of change in host adaptation were observed after passaging but associated changes in other characters, including heterokaryon compatibility, identified the changed isolates as contaminants. Inoculation of progressively more dilute spore suspensions to detached leaves revealed that some isolates were highly infective to the host to which they were adapted, with a high probability of a single spore initiating infection. Inocula deliberately contaminated with a small proportion of spores of opposite host adaptation revealed changes when passaged on wheat that mimicked the rare changes observed on passaging pure wheat- or barley-adapted isolates. These results suggest that adaptation to wheat or barley is a stable property of pure cultures of S. nodorum and that the occasional changes in host adaptation observed on passaging result from selection of contaminants.     

Spatial distributions of Septoria nodorum and S. tritici within crops of winter wheat

In some crops of winter wheat selected from a range monitored in Western Europe during 1981-83, Septoria nodovum and S . tritici were spatially very uniformly distributed from the beginning of the growing season onwards. A cube root transformation produced a constant variance in lesion numbers per leaf, similar for both pathogens at about 0.5. This permits the sample size needed for a given accuracy to be estimated. Counts of conidia washed from leaves by a standard procedure had a constant coefficient of variation, independent of disease level. Large samples would be necessary for accurate counts, particularly if leaves from different layers were examined separately. The pattern of lesion numbers on leaves was best described by a negative binomial distribution: this predicts an incidence-severity curve to which the data conformed closely. Hence incidence estimates can be used to estimate severity, which may be more economical of sampling effort. Correlations between lesion counts on different leaves of the same tiller were negative and highly significant for S. nodorum in 1982, but positive and significant for S. tritici in 1983. The causes of this difference are unknown.     

Performance of the Biocontrol Fungus Piriformospora indica on Wheat Under Greenhouse and Field Conditions

ABSTRACT The endophyte Piriformospora indica colonizes roots of a range of host plants and increases biomass production and resistance to fungal pathogens and, thus has been considered a biocontrol fungus. However, the field performance of this fungus has not yet been tested in temperate climates. Therefore, we evaluated the performance of this fungus in different substrata under greenhouse and practical field conditions. Roots of winter wheat were colonized efficiently, and biomass was particularly increased on poor substrata. In greenhouse experiments, symptom severity of a typical leaf (Blumeria graminis f. sp. tritici), stem base (Pseudocercosporella herpotrichoides), and root (Fusarium culmorum) pathogen was reduced significantly. However, in field experiments, symptoms caused by the leaf pathogen did not differ in Piriformospora indica-colonized compared with control plants. In the field, Pseudocercosporella herpotrichoides disease severity was significantly reduced in plants colonized by the endophyte. Increased numbers of sheath layers and hydrogen peroxide concentrations after B. graminis attack were detected in Piriformospora indica-colonized plants, suggesting that root colonization causes induction of systemic resistance or priming of the host plant. Although the endophyte is not well suited for growth at Central European temperature conditions, it remains to be shown whether P. indica is more suitable for tropical or subtropical farming.     

Leptosphaeria nodorum on wheat in Ireland

Symptomless leaves of young wheat crops collected in January and February produced, after surface-sterilization and incubation on an agar medium, perithecia typical of Leptosphaeria nodorum. Single-ascospore cultures produced pycnidia typical of Septoria nodorum, whose conidia caused necrotic lesions to develop when sprayed on wheat seedlings.     

The reliability of visual estimates of disease severity on cereal leaves

Visual estimates of wheat disease severity were compared with actual severities determined using image analysis of tracings of diseased leaves. Septoria tritici , leaf senescence and Erysiphe graminis were studied. Observer estimates were widely scattered about the actual severities (i.e. they were imprecise), differed substantially from the actual severities even after averaging (i.e. they were inacctirate), and varied considerably over short time-scales. Relative bias decreased with increasing disease severity. In a comparison of three seed treatments to control powdery mildew on winter barley, visual assessment errors altered the conclusions of the experiment. Two treatments were statistically indistinguishable on the basis of visual severity estimates, while estimates obtained by image analysis showed that one seed treatment was twice as effective as the other.     

Substantial reductions in winter wheat diseases caused by addition of straw but not manure to soil

Over a period of 3 years, five agronomically distinct crops of winter wheat were grown in plots in which straw (1 kg m⁻²), manure (4 kg m⁻²) or nothing were incorporated into the soil. Plant establishment and height, but not leaf area per tiller, were lower in straw-treated plots. Fertilizer regimes differed between years. Soil and leaf nitrogen were recorded; there was no obvious link between N and any disease or soil amendment. The numbers of leaf layers scorable for disease were similar in all treatments. At the end of the season, plants from straw-treated plots had consistently reduced septoria tritici blotch (caused by Mycosphaerella graminicola ), powdery mildew [caused by Erysiphe ( Blumeria ) graminis ], brown rust (caused by Puccinia recondita ) and foot rot (caused by Fusarium spp.). Early on, M. graminicola was worse in straw-treated plots. In manure-treated plots, P. recondita was reduced but effects on other diseases were inconsistent and slight. A fungicide, chlorothalonil, was applied in one crop; its effects did not interact with those of other treatments. Mycosphaerella graminicola was not suppressed by straw in outdoor pot experiments. Late in the season, straw-treated plants had significantly higher leaf silica ( P  < 0·01). In a glasshouse experiment, plants supplied with silicon had less E. graminis infection ( P  < 0·001) and higher leaf silica, but effects on M. graminicola were inconsistent. A prior inoculation of M. graminicola primed plant defences against a subsequent attack of E. graminis , but only in the presence of adequate Si. It is postulated that straw acts in the field by increasing Si availability.     

小麦白粉病菌越夏,越冬和春季菌源毒性结构比较

 分析了1992年和1993年不同时期采集的小麦白粉病菌越夏、越冬和春季菌源共238个菌株的生理小种、毒性基因结构和对9个推广品种的毒力频率。结果表明三种菌源在生理小种和毒性基因组成及出现频率是相似的,对9个推广品种的毒力频率均较高。这样在白粉病菌毒性和品种抗病性研究中,可以采集应用越夏和越冬菌株标样,避免了夏季高温季节保存菌株的工作;而且从毒性结构方面进一步证实白粉病菌主要以分生孢子在夏季侵染高海拔地区的自生麦苗而越夏,再逐渐扩展至秋播麦苗越冬后导致春季大田发病,病菌的子囊孢子在平原地区侵染循环上作用不大。     

Foci of stagonospora nodorum blotch in winter wheat before canopy development

ABSTRACT Stagonospora nodorum blotch (SNB) often develops explosively on upper leaves and glumes of wheat. Inoculum for late season infections may arise from early disease foci in the lower canopy or from recent immigration of wind-dispersed ascospores. Research was conducted to determine if foci of SNB are present and secondary spread has occurred in fields before tiller elongation. We determined the incidence of infection by Stagonospora nodorum for plants sampled at the mid-tillering stage in 96 1-m(2) quadrats in each of two fields. Isolates of S. nodorum were recovered from 32 quadrats, one per infected plant where possible. Multilocus restriction fragment length polymorphism haplotypes were determined for each isolate. Of 55 isolates collected from one field, there were 22 distinct haplotypes. Diseased plants were aggregated in both fields; aggregates sometimes extended to adjacent quadrats. Plants within aggregates were often infected by the same haplotype, suggesting that secondary spread had occurred. Foci overlapped because some aggregates were infected by more than one haplotype. Our results show that genetically diverse populations of S. nodorum were already established in fields before canopy development and were comprised of sometimes overlapping foci undergoing clonal expansion.     

Biological control of peach twig blight (Monilinia laxa) with Epicoccum nigrum

Various preparations of spores and mycelium of the antagonist Epicoccum nigrum , alone or in combination with Captan, were applied in four different field trials to peach trees inoculated with Monilinia laxa , the cause of twig blight. Biocontrol obtained after application of E. nigrum was variable each year, depending on the releative disease severity in the first 2–3 weeks after infection and the climatic conditions. In three out of four trials, treatments with E. nigrum were comparable with Captan in reducing disease severity and combinations of E. nigrum and Captan gave a level of disease suppression similar to that given by the antagonist or chemical alone. In the remaining trial, combinations of E. nigrum and Captan were necessary to obtain successful disease suppression.