Frequency of virulence phenotypes of Phytophthora fragariae in the field

The virulences of 102 single-zoospore cultures of Phytophthora fragariae from one field site were determined on a range of strawberry differentials, and used to assign the cultures to four clusters (I, II A, IIB, IIC) using cluster analysis. On cv. Favourite, which is susceptible to all known races of the pathogen, isolates in cluster I were recovered most frequently and had the narrowest spectrum of virulence. On cv. Saladin isolates in cluster IIB were more common and were pathogenic to this cultivar. However, c. 30% of the single zoospores from field isolates from Saladin were avirulent on this cultivar and belonged to cluster I. Hyphal-tip and single-zoospore cultures from selected field isolates in cluster IIB did not always have the same virulence phenotype as the parent isolates. One hyphal-tip culture from a field isolate in cluster IIB had a virulence phenotype (IID) which had not been recorded before in Europe, and it attacked some cultivars not previously affected by red core. When cultivars such as Saladin were inoculated with mixtures of zoospores from two isolates from different clusters, with and without the corresponding virulence factors, the isolate with the corresponding virulence factor was selected. However, on the universally susceptible cv. Favourite the results depended on the relative competitiveness of the isolates and not on virulence factors.