| Abstract: | The effectiveness of various fungicide formulations containing carboxin and thiabendazole in eradicating teliospores of Tilletia controversa (dwarf bunt) from winter wheat seed was evaluated in the laboratory and the field. In the laboratory tests, the viability of teliospores washed from treated infested seed was greatly reduced as compared to the viability of teliospores washed from untreated infested seed, suggesting that carboxin and thiabendazole were primarily fungicidal. Field tests in two different years were established to determine if teliospores from treated infested seed could infect nearby untreated noninfested seed. Formulations containing carboxin were highly effective in reducing infection of healthy seed. No dwarf bunt infected plants developed in either year from seed treated with ‘Vitaflo 250’. Furthermore, seedborne common bunt caused by Tilletia foetida was nearly eradicated by carboxin-containing formulations in one field test. Carboxin treatment of winter wheat seed infested with dwarf bunt teliospores will greatly reduce the danger of introducing this pathogen into new areas. |
