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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 #389001
Research Project: Identification of Resistance in Sorghum to Fungal Pathogens and Characterization of Pathogen Population Structure

Location: Crop Germplasm Research

Title: Correlations among grain mold severity, seed weight, and germination rate of sorghum association panel lines inoculated with Alternaria alternata, Fusarium thapsinum, and Curvularia lunata

Author
item Prom, Louis
item AHN, EZEKIEL - Texas A&M University
item ISAKEIT, THOMAS - Texas A&M University
item MAGILL, CLINT - Texas A&M University

Submitted to: Journal of Agriculture and Crops
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 10/29/2021
Publication Date: 11/25/2021
Publication URL: https://handle.nal.usda.gov/10113/7709694
Citation: Prom, L.K., Ahn, E., Isakeit, T., Magill, C. 2021. Correlations among grain mold severity, seed weight, and germination rate of sorghum association panel lines inoculated with Alternaria alternata, Fusarium thapsinum, and Curvularia lunata. Journal of Agriculture and Crops. 8(1):7-11. https://doi.org/10.32861/jac.81.7.11.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.32861/jac.81.7.11

Interpretive Summary: Grain mold is the most important disease of sorghum and, due to the many fungi associated with it, controlling the disease can be difficult. Grain yield losses on highly susceptible sorghum lines can reach 100% when conditions are favorable for disease development. The association among the factors that determine sorghum response to the disease was calculated and the work showed that a higher grain mold severity will result in lower seed weight and germination rate. This work is significant because seeds from grain mold resistant lines will likely provide better plant stand in the field, resulting in higher yield and profit to the growers.

Technical Abstract: The sorghum association panel was evaluated for grain mold severity, seed weight, and germination rate. The 377 accessions were inoculated with Alternaria alternata alone, a mixture of A. alternata, Fusarium thapsinum, and Curvularia lunata, and untreated water-sprayed control during 2010, 2013-2015 growing seasons at the Texas AgriLife Research Farm, Burleson County, Texas. Each accession was evaluated at least twice. Across accessions, Spearman's rank correlation was performed for non-parametric correlation analysis for grain mold severity, seed weight, and germination rate. There were significant negative correlations between grain mold severity with seed weight and germination rate for the individual treatment and when combined. A significant positive correlation between seed weight and germination rate was observed. The results indicated that higher grain mold severity reduces both sorghum seed weight and germination rate whether deliberately inoculated with fungal pathogens or naturally infected. It can be argued that correlations from this study were more robust due to the large number of accessions from all major sorghum races used and may represent the true association among the three parameters for this pathosystem. Thus, the use of grain mold resistant lines, resulting in sound seeds and higher germination rates is recommended.