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ARS Home » Plains Area » College Station, Texas » Southern Plains Agricultural Research Center » Crop Germplasm Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #380304
Research Project: Identification of Resistance in Sorghum to Fungal Pathogens and Characterization of Pathogen Population Structure

Location: Crop Germplasm Research

Title: Effect of Bacillus velezensis and fungicides on sorghum anthracnose in Burleson County, Texas, 2020

Author
item ISAKEIT, THOMAS - Texas A&M University
item LABAR, STEPHEN - Texas A&M University
item ROONEY, WILLIAM - Texas A&M University
item Prom, Louis

Submitted to: Plant Disease Management Reports
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 12/1/2020
Publication Date: 3/4/2021
Citation: Isakeit, T., Labar, S., Rooney, W.L., Prom, L.K. 2021. Effect of Bacillus velezensis and fungicides on sorghum anthracnose in Burleson County, Texas, 2020. Plant Disease Management Reports. 15. Article CF076.

Interpretive Summary: Anthracnose is an important fungal disease that can significantly reduce yield and seed quality. The study identified two fungicides Quadris F and Headline SC that significantly reduced the level of anthracnose and increased seed weight and yield on the hybrid BH 4100. Also, the bacterial treatment had greater seed weight and yield than the control treatment. This work is significant because it has identified fungicides and a potential biocontrol agent capable of reducing the effect of sorghum anthracnose on both the leaves and panicles which can be utilized by growers in the USA to control the disease.

Technical Abstract: The experiment was conducted at the Texas A&M AgriLife Experiment Station near College Station (Burleson County), TX, using the hybrid BH 4100. The seed was planted 27 March in a Belk clay soil. There were four replicates per treatment arranged in a randomized, blocked design. On 20 May and 26 May, plots were inoculated with Colletotrichum sublineola by sprinkling a few colonized sorghum seed into the whorls of plants in the outer two rows only. One of the treatments was Bacillus velezensis LP16S (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/nuccore/1778620474), which was shown to reduce anthracnose and grain mold on sorghum in greenhouse experiments. The bacterium and the fungicides (Quadris F and Headline SC) were applied on 7 June (start of flowering) to the middle two rows of plots with a CO2-pressurized backpack sprayer, at 28 psi in a spray volume of 10 gal/A, using TeeJet XR8002VS flat fan tips. Four nozzles, spaced 19 in. a part, treated the two rows. Plants were evaluated for anthracnose on 17 July and 5 August by estimating the percentage of leaf area with lesions for the sprayed rows of each plot. On 25 Ju1y, three panicles were collected from the sprayed rows of each plot, threshed, pooled, and 100 seeds were weighed. The two sprayed rows of plots were harvested on 3 August. Data were subjected to an analysis of variance and Fisher's protected LSD was used to separate means. Yields were adjusted to 14% moisture. Disease severity was less, and seed weight and yield were greater, with the two fungicides as compared with the control and the bacterial treatment. However, the Bacillus velezensis LP16S treatment resulted in higher and greater seed weight and yield than the control treatment.