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ARS Home » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #90466
Title: MANAGEMENT OF SCLEROTINIA BLIGHT AND VERTICILLIUM WILT IN PEANUT

Author
item JACKSON, KEN - OKLA STATE UNIV
item Melouk, Hassan

Submitted to: Oklahoma Agriculture Experiment Station Departmental Publication
Publication Type: Experiment Station
Publication Acceptance Date: 2/28/1998
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary: Article summarizes current status of research efforts; no new research reported.

Technical Abstract: This research is part of an on-going effort to study the biology, disease resistance, and management of sclerotinia blight and verticillium wilt in peanut. For the study of reaction of peanut lines to verticillium wilt in small field plots, plots were planted 15 May 1997 in a naturally infested verticillium soil near Chickasha, OK. Plots were harvested on 29 October. Eight peanut cultivars and breeding lines were planted in this study. Each plot consisted of two 15-ft rows, 3 ft apart, with four replications. The number of verticillium-infected plants per plot were counted on 15 October. Wilt incidence was moderate for most of the lines tested. Florunner had significantly more verticillium wilt than all the other lines tested. Verticillium wilt incidence, yield, and grade data are presented. The study involving sclerotinia focuses on improving current methodology for evaluating reaction of peanut to sclerotinia under greenhouse conditions. The current method uses mycelial inoculum grown on nutrient-rich medium as inoculum to initiate infection. We compared this mycelial inoculum with sclerotial inoculum in initiating infection on two peanut lines. Baseline data from a preliminary experiment have indicated the possible utility of using germinated sclerotia on carrot tissue as inoculum to produce disease in the greenhouse. Data are presented. Additional research is underway to optimize the synchronization of germination of sclerotia and its utility as inoculum. Sclerotial inoculum should contribute to the development of a more realistic greenhouse screening procedure to identify resistance in peanut germplasm to the sclerotinia blight fungus.