Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-ndmmz Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-06-11T11:18:17.758Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Texas Gourd (Cucurbita texana) Control with Fusarium solani f. sp. cucurbitae

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 June 2017

C. Douglas Boyette
Affiliation:
Dep. Plant Path., Univ. of Arkansas, Fayetteville, AR 72701
George E. Templeton
Affiliation:
Dep. Plant Path., Univ. of Arkansas, Fayetteville, AR 72701
Lawrence R. Oliver
Affiliation:
Dep. Plant Path., Univ. of Arkansas, Fayetteville, AR 72701

Abstract

An indigenous soil-borne fungus was isolated from infected seeds and seedlings of Texas gourd [Cucurbita texana (A.) Gray] and evaluated as a mycoherbicide. The pathogen was identified as Fusarium solani App. & Wr. f. sp. cucurbitae Snyd. & Hans. Only Cucurbita species were susceptible in host range tests. Ample quantities of microconidia for greenhouse and field plot inoculum were produced in shake culture on Richards' solution. Granular inoculum for field plot tests was produced in 5% (w/w) cornmeal/sand medium. In controlled-environment experiments, inoculated Texas gourd seedlings were killed over a range of air temperatures from 16 to 40 C. Optimum air temperature for disease development was 26 to 30 C. Complete kill of 4- and 8-cm-tall seedlings was achieved after 3 weeks when sprayed until runoff with a microconidial suspension containing 2.0 × 106 spores/ml. Texas gourd seedlings were effectively controlled in field plots (99% maximum) with liquid or granular inoculum. Soil samples from infested plots indicated that the fungus persists up to 12 months in a fine sandy loam, but after 12 months inoculum levels were insufficient to cause disease on seedlings grown under optimum conditions for disease development.

Type
Weed Biology and Ecology
Copyright
Copyright © 1984 by the Weed Science Society of America 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Literature Cited

1. Baker, K. F., and Cook, R. J. 1974. Biological Control of Plant Pathogens. W. H. Freeman and Co., San Francisco.Google Scholar
2. Boyette, C. D., Templeton, G. E., and Smith, R. J. Jr. 1979. Control of winged waterprimrose (Jussiaea decurrens) and northern jointvetch (Aeschynomene virginica) with fungal pathogens. Weed Sci. 27:497501.Google Scholar
3. Conroy, R. J. 1953. Fusarium root rot of cucurbits. J. Aust. Inst. Agric. Sci. 19:106108.Google Scholar
4. Daniel, J. T., Templeton, G. E., Smith, R. J. Jr., and Fox, W. T. 1973. Biological control of northern jointvetch in rice with an endemic fungal disease. Weed Sci. 21:303307.Google Scholar
5. Doidge, E. M. and Kresfedler, L. J. 1932. A wilt disease of cucurbits. Farming S. Afr. 7:299300.Google Scholar
6. Erwin, A. T. 1938. An interesting Texas cucurbit. Iowa State Coll. J. Sci. 12:253261.Google Scholar
7. Gries, G. A. 1946. Physiology of Fusarium root rot of squash. Conn. Agric. Exp. Stn. Bull. (New Haven) 500:20 pp.Google Scholar
8. Kirkpatrick, T. L., Templeton, G. E., TeBeest, D. O., and Smith, R. J. Jr. 1982. Potential of Colletotrichum malvarum for biological control of prickly sida. Plant Dis. 66:323325.Google Scholar
9. Hildebrand, D. C. and McCain, A. H. 1978. The use of various substrates for large-scale production of Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. cannabis inoculum. Phytopathology 68:10991101.Google Scholar
10. Nash, S. N. and Alexander, J. V. 1965. Comparative survival of Fusarium solani f. cucurbitae and f. phaseoli in soil. Phytopathology 55:963966.Google Scholar
11. Oliver, L. R., Harrison, S. A., and McClelland, M. 1983. Germination of Texas gourd (Cucurbita texana) and its control in soybeans (Glycine max). Weed Sci. 83:700706.Google Scholar
12. Panchenko, B. V. 1975. The use of Fusarium oxysporum v. orthoceras for the biological control of broomrape in Astrakhan province. Trudy Vesesoyuznogo Nauchno-Issledovatel Instuta Zaschity Rastenii 42:191198. (In Russian with English Summary).Google Scholar
13. Ridings, W. H., Mitchell, D. J., Schoulties, C. L., and El-Gholl, N. E. 1976. Biological control of milkweed vine in Florida citrus groves with a pathotype of Phytophthora citrophthora . Pages 214220 in Freeman, T. E., ed. Proceedings of the IV Int. Sym. on Biological Control of Weeds, Univ. Florida, Gainesville, FL.Google Scholar
14. Ridings, W. H., Schoulties, C. L., Kannwischer, M. E., Woodhead, S. W., and El-Gholl, M. E. 1982. Control of stranglervine in citrus groves with Phytophthora palmivora: Studies on citrus susceptibility. Pages 240241 in Charudattan, R. and Walker, H. L., ed. Biological Control of Weeds with Plant Pathogens. John Wiley and Sons, New York.Google Scholar
15. Snyder, W. C. 1938. A Fusarium root rot of Cucurbita . Phytopathology 28:19. (Abstr.).Google Scholar
16. Sumner, D. R. 1976. Etiology and control of root rot of summer squash in Georgia. Plant Dis. Rep. 60:923927.Google Scholar
17. Templeton, G. E. and Smith, R. J. Jr. 1977. Managing weeds with pathogens. Pages 167176 in Horsfall, J. G., and Cowling, E. G., ed. Plant Disease; An Advanced Treatise, Vol. 1. Academic Press, New York.Google Scholar
18. Templeton, G. E. 1982. Status of weed control with plant pathogens. Pages 2944 in Charudattan, R. and Walker, H. L. ed. Biological Control of Weeds with Plant Pathogens. John Wiley and Sons, New York.Google Scholar
19. Templeton, G. E., TeBeest, D. O., and Smith, R. J. Jr. 1979. Biological weed control with mycoherbicides. Annu. Rev. Phytopathol. 17:301310.Google Scholar
20. Tuite, J. 1969. Plant pathological methods—fungi and bacteria. Burgess Pub. Co., Minneapolis, MN.Google Scholar
21. Walker, H. L. 1982. Granular formulation of Alternaria macrospora for control of spurred anoda (Anoda cristata). Weed Sci. 29:342345.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
22. Walker, H. L. 1982. Seedling blight of sicklepod caused by Alternaria cassiae . Plant Dis. 66:426428.Google Scholar