Influence of take-all epidemics on winter wheat yield formation and yield loss

ABSTRACT The effects of take-all epidemics on winter wheat yield formation were determined, and disease-yield relationships were established to assess the agronomic efficacy and economic benefits of control methods. Epidemics were generated in naturally infested fields by varying cropping season, crop order in the rotation, and experimental fungicide seed treatment. Disease incidence and severity were assessed from tillering to flowering. Yield components were measured at harvest. Models simulating the formation of the yield components in the absence of limiting factors were used to estimate the losses caused by take-all. Losses were predicted by the disease level at a specific time or the area under the disease progress curve, reflecting accumulation during a specific period. Losses of grain number per square meter and 1,000-grain weight were linked to cumulative disease incidence between the beginning of stem elongation and flowering, and disease incidence at midstem elongation, respectively. Yield losses were accounted for by both cumulative disease incidence between sowing and flowering, and disease incidence at midstem elongation. Results confirm the importance of nitrogen fertilization in reducing the impact of take-all on wheat.     

Evaluation of models to predict take-all incidence in winter wheat as a function of cropping practices,soil, and climate

The incidence and severity of take-all, caused by Gaeumannomyces graminis var. tritici (Ggt), in susceptible crops depend on climate, soil characteristics and cropping practices. Take-all can be controlled by modifying crop rotation, crop management and fungicide treatment. When available, fungicides are used as a seed treatment and are partially effective. There is currently no reliable method for helping farmers to optimise their choice of cropping system to improve take-all control. In this study, we defined 16 models, based on various mathematical functions and input variables, for predicting disease incidence in a wheat crop as a function of soil characteristics, climate, crop rotation and crop management. The parameters of these models were estimated from field experiments carried out at six sites in the north of France over a ten-year period. The root mean squared error of prediction (RMSEP) values of the models were estimated by cross validation and compared. RMSEP was in the range 16.34–65.93% and was higher for the models based on multiplicative functions. The lowest RMSEP value was obtained for a dynamic model simulating disease incidence during the crop cycle and which included among input variables the percentage of diseased plants determined at GS30.     

Effects of summer fallow management on take-all of winter wheat caused by <Emphasis Type="Italic">Gaeumannomyces graminis</Emphasis> var. <Emphasis Type="Italic">tritici</Emphasis>

Crop rotation is the oldest, and perhaps the best cultural practice for reducing the risk of take-all. The effects of crops sown before wheat in a rotation are known in detail, but we know little about the opportunities for reducing take-all risk by planting certain crops in the summer period between wheat harvest and the planting of a subsequent winter wheat crop. We investigated the effects on take-all of five summer fallow crops, two soil tillage treatments and a fungicide seed treatment, in a five site-year experiment. We tested the effects of oats, oilseed rape, mustard, ryegrass and volunteer wheat crops. Bare-soil plots were also included. Take-all epidemics varied with year and site. Summer fallow crops had a greater effect on tilled plots. The incidence and severity of take-all were significantly higher in the wheat volunteer plots, whereas maintaining bare soil provided the lowest level of disease. Oilseed rape had no significant effect on take-all incidence in our experiment. The best candidates for reducing take-all risk appeared to be oats, mustard and ryegrass. These summer fallow crops decreased disease levels only when associated with conventional tillage. Summer fallow crops did not alter take-all decline in the same way as a break crop after a wheat monoculture.     

Epidemiology and chemical control of take-all on seminal and adventitious roots of wheat

ABSTRACT Epidemiological modeling is used to examine the effect of silthiofam seed treatment on field epidemics of take-all in winter wheat. A simple compartmental model, including terms for primary infection, secondary infection, root production, and decay of inoculum, was fitted to data describing change in the number of diseased and susceptible roots per plant over thermal time obtained from replicated field trials. This produced a composite curve describing change in the proportion of diseased roots over time that increased monotonically to an initial plateau and then increased exponentially thereafter. The shape of this curve was consistent with consecutive phases of primary and secondary infection. The seed treatment reduced the proportion of diseased roots throughout both phases of the epidemic. However, analysis with the model detected a significant reduction in the rate of primary, but not secondary, infection. The potential for silthiofam to affect secondary infection from diseased seminal or adventitious roots was examined in further detail by extending the compartmental model and fitting to change in the number of diseased and susceptible seminal or adventitious roots. Rates of secondary infection from either source of infected roots were not affected. Seed treatment controlled primary infection of seminal roots from particulate inoculum but not secondary infection from either seminal or adventitious roots. The reduction in disease for silthiofam-treated plants observed following the secondary infection phase of the epidemic was not due to long-term activity of the chemical but to the manifestation of disease control early in the epidemic.     

Seed treatments enhance photosynthesis in maize seedlings by reducing infection with <Emphasis Type="Italic">Fusarium</Emphasis> spp. and consequent disease development in maize

Maize seed that was either treated with the fungicide Cruiser Extreme 250 ® (fludioxonil + azoxystrobin + mefenoxam + thiamethoxam) or not treated was planted at two Iowa locations in 2007. Root, mesocotyl and crown rot severity, incidence of Fusarium spp. colonisation and chlorophyll florescence (CF) were assessed at growth stages V2, V4 and V6, and stalk rot severity at R6. At both locations, seed treatment reduced disease severity and incidence of Fusarium spp. infection at all growth stages assessed. Measurements of CF decreased significantly with increased disease severity and incidence of Fusarium spp. at V2 and V4 at both locations, indicating that seedling disease negatively affected photosynthetic performance. Mesocotyl rot severity at V4 predicted crown rot severity at V6 at both locations, as well as crown rot at V6 and stalk rot at R6 at one location.     

Glasshouse and field evaluation of benomyl and triadimefon applied at seeding to control take-all in wheat

The effects of two fungicides, benomyl and triadimefon, applied at seeding, on the incidence and severity of take-all ( Gaeumannomyces graminis var. tritici ) of wheat were investigated in the glasshouse and in the field. In glasshouse studies with an artificially inoculated and naturally infested sandy loam, both fungicides caused significantly less disease, whereas in a field study with a clay soil and artificial inoculum, triadimefon caused significantly less disease. In the field, both fungicides were more effective when placed near the seed as granules or as pellets than when applied as seed treatments.     

Temporal Progression of Bean Common Bacterial Blight (Xanthomonas Campestris pv. phaseoli) in Sole and Intercropping Systems

The effects of four planting patterns of bean (Phaseolus vulgaris) (bean only, maize–bean (MB), sorghum–bean (SB), and maize–bean–sorghum (MBS)) and four cropping systems (sole cropping, row, mixed, and broadcast intercropping) on the temporal epidemics of bean common bacterial blight (CBB) caused by Xanthomonas campestris pv. phaseoli were studied. The experiments were conducted during two consecutive spring and summer seasons in 1999 and 2000 in replicated field experiments. The Gompertz model described disease progress curves better than the logistic model. Intercropping delayed epidemic onset, lowered disease incidence and severity, and reduced the disease progress rate. The type of cropping system and planting pattern affected CBB incidence and severity at initial, final and overall assessments and also affected the rate of disease development. Statistical significance of treatment interactions based on disease assessments was found for incidence in all four experiments and for severity in three experiments. A slower disease progress rate and lower incidence and severity occurred on beans planted with maize or sorghum in row, mixed and broadcast intercropping than on bean planted alone. Incidence was reduced 36% and severity 20% in intercropping compared to sole cropping. The built-in disease delay and the slowing of the disease progress rate could provide protection for beans from severe CBB epidemics in intercropped systems. Variation between years appeared to be related to relative humidity (RH).     

Methods for studying population structure, including sensitivity to the fungicide silthiofam, of the cereal take-all fungus, Gaeumannomyces graminis var. tritici

Field isolates ( n  = 144) of the wheat take-all fungus Gaeumannomyces graminis var. tritici ( Ggt ) were tested for sensitivity to silthiofam, a take-all-specific fungicide used as a seed treatment, and identified as A- or B-type by PCR–RFLP analysis of nuclear rDNA. A possible association was identified between polymorphisms in ITS2 of the nuclear rDNA and sensitivity to silthiofam. A Ggt -specific PCR assay was developed which simultaneously identified isolates of Ggt as A- or B-type, based on the polymorphisms in the nuclear rDNA. A highly significant correlation between Ggt type using the PCR assay and sensitivity to silthiofam was demonstrated in a collection of 358 isolates from three field experiments designed to test the effects of seed-treatment fungicides on take-all and Ggt populations in winter wheat. In one experiment the percentages of silthiofam-sensitive and B-type isolates were significantly less in populations from plots sown with silthiofam-treated seed in two consecutive years than in populations from plots sown with nontreated seed. However, silthiofam still provided a significant amount of control of take-all. The natural occurrence of fungicide-insensitive isolates, up to about 30% in soils in which the fungicide had never been used, is unusual. The new PCR assay provides a useful tool for studying the population structure of Ggt , and may provide a novel method for assessing the incidence of insensitivity to silthiofam (the target site for which has not yet been identified) in field populations of Ggt .     

Influence of crop management on take-all development and disease cycles on winter wheat

ABSTRACT Wheat was assessed at four crop growth stages for take-all (Gaeumannomyces graminis var. tritici) in a series of field trials that studied the effects of five wheat management practices: sowing date, plant density, nitrogen fertilizer dose and form, and removal/burial of cereal straw. An equation expressing disease level as a function of degree days was fitted to the observed disease levels. This equation was based on take-all epidemiology and depended on two parameters reflecting the importance of the primary and secondary infection cycles, respectively. Early sowing always increased disease frequency via primary infection cycle; its influence on the secondary cycle was variable. Primary infection and earliness of disease onset were increased by high density; however, at mid-season take-all was positively correlated to the root number per plant, which was itself negatively correlated to plant density. At late stages of development, neither plant density nor root number per plant had any influence on disease. A high nitrogen dose increased both take-all on seminal roots and severity of primary infection cycle but decreased take-all on nodal roots and secondary infection cycle. Ammonium (versus ammonium nitrate) fertilizer always decreased disease levels and infection cycles, whereas straw treatment (burial versus removal of straw from the previous cereal crop) had no influence.     

Neue Ansätze zur Optimierung der Kraut- und Knollenfäulebekämpfung im ökologischen Kartoffelanbau

Potato late blight is still an unsolved problem in organic farming. Up to now the disease can only be controlled by copper fungicides. Our project is aiming to reduce the application of copper-containing pesticides by introduction of a blight forecasting system based on meteorological parameters. Primary stem infections should be reduced by seed treatment with copper fungicides thus to postpone the beginning of the blight epidemic as well as the start of spraying. To control secondary infections on the foliage, fungicide strategies should be elaborated to achieve best efficacy with reduced amounts of pesticides. Therefore copper amounts and spraying intervals should be adjusted to the infection pressure. Based on the biological and epidemiological conditions for primary and secondary infections with special emphasis on soil moisture, the potato blight forecast system ÖKO-SIMPHYT should be developed.     

Quantitative studies on downy mildew (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Peronospora destructor</Emphasis> Berk. Casp.) affecting onion seed production in southern Uruguay

Onion downy mildew (Dm) symptoms and damage on seed production fields in southern Uruguay were quantified during two seasons as the progress of incidence, severity, and as the effect of the level of seed-stalks infections on seed yield and quality. In addition, the effects of two plantation dates and two plant densities on Dm were studied in a factorial experiment. Maximum incidence along the season ranged from 15 to 65% in four commercial fields in 2005 and two fields in 2006. Maximum severity ranged from 4.5 to 9.3% of leaf area affected in 2005, and 0.35 to 1.17% in 2006. Whereas Dm incidence varied among studied fields, disease progress as Dm severity varied mainly between studied years. Crop rotation, crop vigour and plant density were identified as major factors affecting Dm variation in the field. Intensive fungicide schedules did not control Dm when other conditions favoured the disease. A high level of Dm severity defined as large necklace spots on seed-stalks significantly reduced seed yield in comparison with healthy seed-stalks in 2005, as well as seed yield and germination in 2006. Weight of 1,000 seeds was not significantly reduced by Dm infections on seed-stalks. Six genera of fungi were recovered from seeds harvested on highly infected seed-stalks (Stemphylium, Fusarium, Alternaria, Penicillium, Aspergillus and Botrytis), but not Peronospora. Late planting date and low plant density had significantly lower Dm incidence and severity. This finding questioned the early planting dates and high densities previously recommended in order to achieve high yielding crops. The combination of several practices to reduce initial inoculum, susceptibility status of the host, and environmental conditions promoting the disease is discussed as forming a basis for effective disease control.     

Using crop canopy modification to manage plant diseases

Modifying crop canopies can suppress plant diseases in some crops. For example, in carrot, lateral trimming of the canopy by 30–40 % after canopy closure reduced sclerotinia rot (Sclerotinia sclerotiorum) to zero under moderate disease pressure without the use of fungicides. Trimming reduced relative humidity within the carrot canopy and increased air and soil temperature, inhibiting the formation of apothecia of S. sclerotiorum. Trimming also severed infected petioles, which reduced the opportunity for infection to progress to the carrot crown. Trimming combined with application of foliar fungicide was even more effective. Trimming reduced carrot leaf blights (Alternaria dauci, Cercospora carotae) in 1 of 3 years, when disease pressure was low. However, there was no advantage of combining trimming and fungicide sprays for leaf blight control. Canopy modification also reduces disease in legume crops. Soybean cultivars with reduced height and lodging, and early maturity, had up to a 74 % reduction in apothecia of S. sclerotiorum within the crop, and up to an 88 % reduction in disease incidence at harvest. In field pea, artificially supporting plants to reduce lodging, in combination with fungicide application, reduced the severity of mycosphaerella blight (Mycosphaerella pinodes) on pods by 67 % and increased seed yield by 54 %. In chickpea, paired-row planting that opened the canopy increased seed yield by 12 %, likely by increasing fungicide deposition. Modifications of the crop canopy can reduce disease, the need for fungicide sprays, and sometimes improve fungicide efficacy, but the results are often pathosystem-specific.     

戊唑醇种子处理防治小麦纹枯病

种子处理是控制小麦纹枯病的有效措施,在小麦纹枯病的综合治理技术体系中起着举足轻重的作用。在苏南宜兴和淮北徐州,2％戊唑醇湿拌剂和6％戊唑醇悬剂胺10kg麦种拌药0.3-0.4g有效成分,对小麦的出苗没有显著影响,对根系和冬前分蘖具有促进作用。对小麦纹枯病的控制效果较为理想,表现为冬前效果显著,病析率防效60％－100％,从而有效地抑制了冬前发病高峰。戊唑醇处理区拔节期的病情指仍然极显著地低于对照区,亦显著低于对照药剂纹霉净,侵茎高峰明显推迟,最终的枯白穗防效突出,0.3-0.4g ai/10kg种子拌种的枯白穗防效达到85％以上。由于控病和对小麦生长调控的双重作用,保穗、保产效果明显,最终产量较对照增加10％－15％。     

The effect of timing of fungicide applications on control of frogeye leaf spot and grain yield of soybeans

Soybean cultivar Samsoy 1, and the breeding lines TGx 849-313D and TGx 996-26E, grown in a field with a heavy epidemic of frogeye leaf spot caused byCercospora sojina, were treated with double foliar applications of the fungicide benomyl. The treatments were made using four application schedules at six different growth stages, starting from V₃ (fully developed leaves, beginning with trifoliate nodes) to R₅ (beginning seed_, to determine the effect of the fungucide timing on frogeye leaf spot severity, soybean grain yield and grain quality. Generally, applications at R₁ (beginning bloom) and R₃ (beginning pod) significantly (P<-0.05) reduced disease severity in the 2 susceptible genotypes, Samsoy 1 and TGx 849-313D. Plot yields of these genotypes were also significantly greater than the untreated controls when the fungicide applications were made at R₁ and R₃. There was no significant difference in diseave severity or grain yield, between the untreated control and the different times of application, on the resistant genotype TGx 996-26E. Improved seed germination and lower levels of seed infection byC. sojina occurred for all fungicide timings in the susceptible genotypes. The results suggest that fungicide spraying initiated at R₁ and followed up at R₃ is most effective in frogeye leaf spot control and can also result in higher grain yields, than applications made earlier or later in the season. Control of frogeye leaf spot, however, is best achieved by growing resistant cultivars.     

Sensitivity of fungi from cereal roots to fluquinconazole and their suppressiveness towards take-all on plants with or without fluquinconazole seed treatment in a controlled environment

The take-all fungus, Gaeumannomyces graminis var. tritici , was highly sensitive to fluquinconazole ( in-vitro EC₅₀ 0·016–0·018 mg L⁻¹), a fungicide developed for use as a seed treatment to control take-all, and to prochloraz (EC₅₀ 0·006 mg L⁻¹). Fungi of other genera that were commonly isolated from cereal roots were sensitive in varying degrees to prochloraz but were relatively insensitive (e.g. Fusarium culmorum , EC₅₀ > 20 mg L⁻¹) or slightly sensitive (e.g. Epicoccum purpurascens , EC₅₀ 0·514 mg L⁻¹) to fluquinconazole. Gaeumannomyces graminis var. graminis and G. cylindrosporus , weak parasites that can protect roots against take-all, and an unnamed Phialophora sp., all closely related to the take-all fungus, were highly or moderately sensitive to fluquinconazole. Alternaria infectoria and E. purpurascens were most consistently effective in suppressing development of take-all on pot-grown wheat plants dual-inoculated with G. graminis var. tritici and the nonpathogen. Take-all was decreased more on dual-inoculated wheat plants grown from seed treated with fluquinconazole or fluquinconazole plus prochloraz than when only an antagonistic fungus ( A. infectoria , E. purpurascens , Fusarium culmorum or Idriella bolleyi ) or a seed treatment was applied. These fungi were less effective in combination with seed treatments on barley. Gaeumannomyces graminis var. graminis and G. cylindrosporus , tested on wheat, suppressed take-all only in the absence of fungicides. It is suggested that the performance of seed treatment containing fluquinconazole against take-all may in some circumstances be enhanced by its partial specificity for the take-all fungus.     

Variation in the effects of take-all disease on grain yield and quality of winter cereals in field experiments

Relationships between take-all intensity and grain yield and quality were determined in field experiments on cereal crops using regression analyses, usually based on single-point disease assessments made during anthesis or grain-filling. Different amounts of take-all were achieved by different methods of applying inoculum artificially (to wheat only) or by using different cropping sequences (in wheat, triticale or barley) or sowing dates (wheat only) in crops with natural inoculum. Regressions of yield or thousand-grain weight on take-all intensity during grain filling were similar to those on accumulated disease (area under the disease progress curve) when these were compared in one of the wheat experiments. Regressions of yield on take-all intensity were more often significant in wheat than in the less susceptible crops, triticale and barley, even when a wide range of disease intensities was present in the latter crops. The regressions usually had most significance when there were plots in the severe disease category. Thousand-grain weight and hectolitre weight usually responded similarly to total grain yield. Decreased yield was often accompanied by a significant increase in the percentage of small grains. When severe take-all was present in wheat, regressions showed that nitrogen uptake was usually impaired. This was sometimes accompanied, however, by increased percentage nitrogen in the grain as a consequence of smaller grain size with decreased endosperm. Significant effects of take-all, both positive and negative, on Hagberg falling number in wheat sometimes occurred. Significant regressions of yield on take-all assessed earlier than usual, ie during booting rather than grain-filling in wheat and triticale and during anthesis/grain-filling rather than ripening in barley, had steeper slopes. This is consistent with observations that severe disease that develops early can be particularly damaging, whilst the crops, especially barley, can later express tolerance by producing additional, healthy roots. The regression parameters, including maximum potential yield (y-axis intercept) and the extrapolated maximum yield loss, also varied according to the different growing conditions, including experimental treatments and other husbandry operations. These differences must be considered when assessing the economic potential of a control measure such as fungicidal seed treatment.     

Epidemiology in Relation to Methods for Forecasting Light Leaf Spot (Pyrenopeziza brassicae) Severity on Winter Oilseed Rape (Brassica napus) in the UK

Pyrenopeziza brassicae, cause of light leaf spot of oilseed rape, has a complex polycyclic life cycle. It can be difficult to control light leaf spot in winter oilseed rape in the UK since it is not easy to optimise fungicide application timing. Early autumn infections are usually symptomless and recognisable lesions do not develop until the epidemic has progressed further by the spring. Light leaf spot often has a patchy distribution in winter oilseed rape crops and estimation of disease incidence can be difficult. There is evidence that epidemics are initiated primarily by ascospores produced from apothecia that survive the summer inter-crop period on infected debris. Subsequent development of the epidemic during the winter and spring is maintained by rain-splashed conidia that spread light leaf spot from initial foci. Understanding the relative roles of ascospores and conidia in the light leaf spot life cycle is crucial for forecasting epidemic severity and developing control strategies. The current web-based regional forecast system provides an autumn forecast of the incidence of light leaf spot that can be expected the following spring. This is based on survey data which assesses the occurrence of disease the previous July, and weather factors, such as deviations from summer mean temperature and winter rainfall. The forecast can be updated throughout the autumn and winter and includes crop-specific elements so that growers can adjust risks by inputting information about cultivar, sowing date and fungicide use. Crop-specific forecasts can be confirmed by assessing the incidence of light leaf spot. Such assessments will become easier when immunodiagnostic methods for detection of the disease become available. Incorporation of information on spore biology (e.g. apothecial maturation, ascospore release and infection conditions) is considered as a component of the interactive, continuously updated, crop-specific, web-based forecasts which are needed in the future.     

Modulation of primary and secondary infections in epidemics of carrot cavity spot through agronomic management practices

The relative importance of primary and secondary infections (auto- and alloinfections) in the development of a carrot cavity spot (CCS) epidemic caused by Pythium spp. were investigated. Three cropping factors: fungicide application, soil moisture and planting density, were selected as the key variables affecting the disease tetrahedron. Their effects on: (i) disease measurements at a specific time, (ii) the areas under the disease progress curves (AUDPCs) and (iii) a time-dependent parameter in a pathometric incidence-severity relationship, were studied. Mefenoxam applications 5 and 9 weeks after sowing reduced the intensity of a field CCS epidemic that involved both primary and secondary infections. In microcosm experiments, mefenoxam reduced secondary infections by Pythium violae obtained by transplanting infected carrot roots and slowed disease progress (1·6 lesions per root in treated versus 5·8 lesions in non-treated microcosms). A deficit of soil moisture limited the movement of Pythium propagules to host tissue, and thus reduced primary infections in the field; it also promoted the healing of lesions, limiting lesion expansion and the potential for alloinfections (6·8–7·5 lesions per root in irrigated plots compared with 2·4 lesions in non-irrigated plots). A negative relationship between the mean root-to-root distance and the rate of alloinfections was established in microcosms; a reduction in mean planting density was also effective in limiting CCS development (0·5, 1·6 and 2·0 lesions per root in microcosms containing 8, 16 and 31 roots, respectively). An integrated disease management system based on a combination of cultural methods, such as optimized fungicide application, date of harvest versus soil moisture content, and host density versus planting pattern, may make a useful contribute to the control of CCS.     

Take-all (Gaeumannomyces graminis [Sacc.] Arx & Olivier) Incidence in Continuous Barley Growing and Effect of Tillage Method1

Take-all (Gaeumannomyces graminis [Sacc.] Arx & Olivier) infection was measured over 7 years (1968–1974) in a long-term tillage experiment involving deep and shallow ploughing, tined cultivation, no-tillage and 4 rates of N. Average infection increased from 4% to 15% and 9% to 35% over the 7 years for June and August samplings respectively. The severity of infection was light and did not change over the years. Increasing N rate consistently reduced infection. In the early years, shallow ploughing and tined cultivation gave greater infection than deep ploughing and no-tillage. In the last 2 years infection levels were the same for all 4 tillage treatments in both June and August, except that in August the no-tillage system continued to show a much lower incidence of infection. The take-all appeared to have little effect on yield because the relative yields from the different tillage treatments did not change with the change in relative degree of infection. Lack of take-all decline was possibly due to the relatively low incidence and severity of infection.