Dry rot of potato [Fusarium caeruleum (Lib.) Sacc.]. Investigation on the sources and time of infection

Inoculation with soil samples proved that the fungus causing dry rot is frequently present in field soils in Cheshire and in soil adhering to imported seed tubers. The fungus was viable in soils having a wide range of p H values and in fields which had not grown potatoes for 5-6 years. Other sources of infection include lofts, used sacks, seed boxes, diseased tubers, and knives used for cutting seed potatoes.
Bruised tubers stored in heavily contaminated boxes developed much dry rot; far less disease occurred in unbruised tubers. In boxes containing own-saved seed, healthy tubers in contact with diseased ones remained sound. Bruised tubers in contact with, or contaminated by, diseased tubers contracted dry rot. Cutting seed with a contaminated knife increased the disease seven-fold.
Inoculation of tubers attached to the parent plant showed that little or no infection occurred before lifting. In field trials severe dry rot developed in several varieties 6-8 weeks after lifting.
The results are discussed in relation to seed treatment.     

An ultrastructural study of bruising in stored potato (Solarium tuberosum L.) tubers

Potato tubers of the cultivar Pentland Dell were investigated for ultrastructural changes following impact. Studies were carried out on tubers after 12 and 24 wk of storage using a falling bolt delivering 0.7 J of energy. Ultra-thin sections were examined by light and transmission electron microscopy. Tubers stored for 12 wk exhibited no visual bruise formation, whereas visible bruising resulted following impact of tubers stored for 24 wk. An ultrastructural sequence of events during bruising was established as (1) a collapse of intracellular compartmentation, (2) increased ribosomal and mitochondrial abundance within the cytoplasm, (3) increased density of cytoplasm adjacent to the cell wall and surrounding amyloplasts, and (4) the development of melanin in bruised cells. These observations are discussed in relation to tuber turgor and physiology during storage.     

Black scurf and stem canker of potato (Corticium Solani Bourd. & Galz.)

Black scurf and stem canker of the potato was investigated in field trials on infected soil at Warburton, Cheshire, to study the effect of planting clean and contaminated seed, and the relation between the dates of planting and lifting and the contamination of the crop tubers.
Black scurf was prevalent on crops grown from clean seed but was more severe on crops raised from contaminated seed. Under conditions favourable for the disease the yields from clean and contaminated seed were satisfactory and were not significantly different. Young shoots of plants from contaminated seed were severely attacked and tuber formation was checked; these results were not obtained on clean seed plots.
More black scurf occurred on late-dug crops; on early-dug plots the disease, although almost absent in 1941, was prevalent in 1942. Late planting failed to reduce appreciably the amount of black scurf.
Variety trials included Arran Banner, Kerr's Pink (two vigorous varieties), King Edward and Majestic (two less vigorous varieties). All were heavily infected and each recovered well from an attack on the young shoots.
Inoculation of the seed at planting time did not affect the results; in all trials, misses and wilted shoots caused by Corticium were rare and there was no relation between the yield and the amount of black scurf on the crop tubers.
The results indicate that the disease causes little, if any, loss under farm conditions.     

The effect of a few days of rain on the distribution of common scab (Streptomyces scabies) on young potato tubers

At Woburn, Beds, in 1967, potato tubers formed and grew in dry soil except after rain between 23 and 26 June. At lifting, Majestic tubers were severely and uniformly scabbed, except for distinct bands free from lesions. The position of the bands differed depending on the date when tubers started to form; they were further from the stolon attachment when tubers formed early and nearer it when tubers formed late. Samples taken in June and July showed that the scab-free band and the late June rain were related. From 25 June to 1 July the soil was probably wet enough to prevent Streptomyces scabies infection, but only one or two tuber internodes remained free from infection; they were the internodes that began to expand about a week before the rain. Internodes that formed while the soil was wet became scabbed, showing they were still susceptible to S. scabies after the soil had dried again. Recent work on lenticel formation has suggested a hypothesis to explain these results.     

Black scurf and stem canker of potato (Corticium Solani Bourd. & Galz.): Further field studies on the use of clean and contaminated seed potatoes and on the contamination of crop tubers

Black scurf and stem canker of the potato were investigated in field trials in contaminated soil at Warburton, Cheshire, to determine the effect of planting clean and contaminated seed (vars. Arran Banner and Majestic) on crop yield and on the contamination of the crop tubers.
Black-scurf contamination was prevalent on crops grown from clean seed and was not significantly different from that occurring on plots planted with contaminated seed. It was severe on early-dug tubers, but was more severe on late-dug tubers. Produce grown with and without stable manure was heavily contaminated.
Contaminated seed caused a check to tuber formation and an appreciable increase in stem canker and in the number of primary shoots killed. Nevertheless, the yields from the manured, contaminated seed plots were satisfactory and were not lower than those from the clean-seed plots. There was no relation between the yield and the amount of black scurf on the produce.
The results of a trial made in a field which had been in grass for at least 43 years, suggested that the soil contained little, if any, Corticium Solani. Heavy contamination occurred on tubers grown under relatively dry soil conditions.
In all the trials misses and wilted shoots caused by Corticium were rare and there was no premature yellowing or death of the haulms on the clean or contaminated seed plots.
The evidence obtained in the four seasons from 1941 to 1944 indicates that in this country satisfactory yields of early maincrop and maincrop varieties may be obtained despite the prevalence of C. Solani in the soil and on the seed, provided the soil and cultural conditions are reasonably good.     

Biological control of postharvest fungal rot of yam (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Dioscorea</Emphasis> spp.) with<Emphasis Type="Italic">Bacillus subtilis</Emphasis>

The potential of isolates of Bacillus subtilis from yam farm soil to control rot of yam in storage barns was investigated. Yam tubers inoculated in vivo with B. subtilis showed no rot while those inoculated with Aspergillus niger, Botryodiploidia theobromae or Penicillium oxalicum showed considerable rot. The set of yams in which B. subtilis and the fungi were simultaneously inoculated produced rot whereas those in which B. subtilis was inoculated a day before the fungi was inoculated were totally reduced or free of rot. Many fewer fungi were isolated from the surface of tubers treated with B. subtilis than from the untreated (control) and there was high recovery of B. subtilis (99–100%) throughout the period of storage. Rot build up was faster in uninoculated control tubers or those inoculated with a spoilage fungus, while those treated with the antagonist were totally reduced or free of rot. The culture filtrate of B. subtilis prevented spore germination in some spoilage fungi. The importance of this study in relation to farmers in developing countries is discussed.     

The effect of date of haulm destruction and harvest on the development of dry rot caused by Fusarium solani var. coeruleum on potato tubers

Over 3 yr, the development of dry rot, caused by Fusarium solani var. coeruleum, and the efficacy of treating potato tubers with imazalil was examined in relation to the date of haulm destruction and harvest, and the interval between haulm destruction using diquat dibromide and harvest. The effect of these factors on skin set was also assessed. Planting inoculated seed tubers bearing small rots produced more dry rot on the daughter tubers than planting naturally contaminated seed tubers in 1992. The incidence of dry rot was higher on daughter tubers wounded by a standardised method than on those passed over a reciprocating riddle (riddling). The relationship between the two assessment methods was significantly (P<0.05) correlated in 2 out of 3 yr. Overall, the interval between haulm destruction and harvest had less effect on the incidence of dry rot on daughter tubers after riddling than the date of harvest. In 2 out of 3 yr, the incidence of dry rot on riddled tubers was least on those harvested in August and was much greater on September‐harvested tubers. On tubers harvested in October, the pattern was variable, with the incidence declining in 1 yr but increasing in the other. In the third year, the development of dry rot was similar on August‐ and September‐harvested tubers and was least on those harvested in October. Dipping tubers in imazalil gave significant reductions in dry rot although the amount of the reduction was variable and not affected by time of treatment or the amount of fungicide deposited within the range 6.7 to 19.4 mg imazalil kg^?1. Skin set at harvest, as measured by skin strength or the amount of scuff damage, increased the later the tubers were harvested but did not appear to be affected by the interval between haulm destruction and harvest.     

Development of black dot disease (Colletotrichum coccodes (Wallr.) Hughes) and its effects on the growth and yield of potato plants

Seed tubers of cvs Désirée and Pentland Crown with different severities of black dot were planted in 1988 and 1989 at Rothamsted in fields in 4– or 7-course rotations, respectively. Tubers treated with prochloraz (1988) or imazalil (1989) were planted in some plots, and in others Colletotrichum coccodes inoculum was added to the soil at planting. In further experiments at Mepal, Cambridgeshire in 1989 and 1990 and at Rothamsted in 1990 on sites where potatoes had not been grown for more than 15 years, large amounts of inoculum were added to the soil around disease-free seed tubers of two (1989) or three (1990) cultivars at planting. In all experiments plants were sampled during the season and the effects of treatments on disease development, growth and yield were recorded. Disease on roots, stem bases and tubers was found early in the season and was more severe on Désirée than on Pentland Crown plants from fields in 4– or 7-course rotations. Severity increased throughout the season and with increasing amounts of disease on the seed tubers, especially with Desiree. Disease was also found on plants from disease-free tubers and was more severe in 1988 than 1989. At harvest, black dot on tubers was significantly more severe from severely affected than from disease-free seed, and was most severe where inoculum, especially large amounts, had been added at planting. Fungicide treatment decreased disease early in the season but had no effect on tuber infection at harvest. In 1989 the weight loss of seed tubers during sprouting increased with increasing amounts of black dot, but the disease had little effect on plant size through the season. At harvest the yield of ware tubers (>50 mm) decreased with severe disease but total tuber yields were not significantly affected. However, at harvest in 1988 severely affected seed yielded significantly less than healthy seed. Plants grown from mini-tubers were free from disease on sites where potatoes had not been grown for at least 15 years. Inoculum applied at planting caused severe disease on all cultivars in both years, whereas disease was slight on uninoculated plants. Inoculated plants senesced early at Mepal in 1990, but there were no significant differences in total tuber yield in any experiment. However, yields of ware tubers (>50 mm) were sometimes decreased and the total tuber number per plant increased.     

Diversity study on Sclerotinia trifoliorum Erikks., the causal agent of clover rot in red clover crops (Trifolium pratense L.)

Since the 16th century, red clover has been an important crop in Europe. Since the 1940s, the European areal of red clover has been severely reduced, due to the availability of chemical fertilizers and the growing interest in maize. Nowadays there is a growing interest in red clover again, although some setbacks still remain. An important setback is the low persistence of red clover crops. Clover rot, caused by the ascomycete fungus Sclerotinia trifoliorum Erikss., is a major disease in Europe and reduces the persistence of red clover crops severely. The fungus infects clover plants through ascospores in the autumn, the disease develops during the winter and early spring and can kill many plants in this period. In early spring, black sclerotia, serving as surviving bodies, are formed on infected plants. Sclerotia can survive up to 7 years in the soil (Ohberg, 2006). The development of clover rot is highly dependent on the weather conditions: a humid fall, necessary for the germination of the ascospores and an overall warm winter with short periods of frost are favourable for the disease. Cold and dry winters slow the mycelial growth down too much and prevent the disease from spreading. Clover rot is difficult to control and completely resistant red clover varieties have yet to be developed. Because of the great annual variation in disease severity, plant breeders cannot use natural infection as an effective means to screen for resistant material. Breeding for resistant cultivars is being slowed down by the lack of a bio-test usable in breeding programs. When applying artificial infections, it is necessary to have an idea of the diversity of the pathogen. A diverse population will require resistance screening with multiple isolates. The objective of this research is to investigate the genetic diversity among isolates from the pathogen S. trifoliorum from various European countries. We assessed diversity using a species identification test based on the sequence of the beta-tubulin gene, vegetative compatibility grouping and AFLP.     

Distribution of violet root rot (Helicobasidium purpureum Pat.) of sugar beet and preliminary experiments on factors affecting the disease

Examination of sugar beet grown in eastern England over the period 1936-43 has shown that up to 5% of factory tarehouse samples contain roots infected with violet root rot. The results of the survey suggest that there are considerable areas where light attacks of the disease occur, as well as fields in which severe attacks develop when susceptible crops are grown. The disease occurred on roots grown in many types of soil but most frequently on those from light alkaline soils. It was found to reduce the sugar content and increase the dirt tare of sugar beet.
The causal fungus, Helicobasidium purpureum, has a wide host range and observations suggest that it persists in the field on weeds, as severe attacks on cultivated crops often occur in weed-infested fields. It also survives as sclerotia, which develop freely on the roots of susceptible crops. While the undisturbed soil conditions of leys and uncultivated land favour increase in infectivity, good cultural practices, trap cropping and application of nitrogenous fertilizers act as a check. These control measures will reduce infectivity even when applied to soil in which consecutive, susceptible crops are grown. Wet soil conditions did not favour the development of infection, and the frequent occurrence of the disease in wet places may be due to such soil conditions favouring survival of sclerotia.
Experiments with compost made from factory waste showed that although the fungus can survive the process, its virulence was so reduced that there is no likelihood that use of such compost would lead to severe violet root rot infection.     

Effects of delaying fungicide treatment of wounded potatoes on the incidence of Fusarium dry rot in store

Potato tubers artificially inoculated with Fusarium solani var. coeruleum or F. sulphureum 3 months after harvest were uniformly wounded and held at 5, 10 or 15°C for up to 21 days before immersion in fungicide suspensions. Holding tubers for 14 days at 15°C (curing conditions) or at 5°C did not alter the incidence of dry rot subsequently developing on tubers stored at 10°C, and holding tubers for up to 21 days at 15°C slightly increased disease caused by both pathogens. Thiabendazole, imazalil and prochloraz applied to tubers immediately after wounding almost completely prevented dry rot. Treatment after 3 days was less effective and the amount of disease increased with further delay; fungicides were more effective on tubers held at 5°C than at 10 or 15°C before treatment and storage, and efficacy of the fungicide was decreased by increasing the amount of inoculum on tubers. Wounds became less susceptible to infection by F. solani var. coeruleum and F. sulphureum when tubers were held at 15°C before inoculation, and the incidence of rots was decreased by 70–80% by delaying inoculation for 7 days. Treating tubers with dichlorophen immediately after wounding slightly increased the disease. The effects of fungicide treatment, curing conditions and wound healing are discussed.     

Persistence of Phoma exigua xar. foveata and Polyscytalum pustulans in dry soils from potato stores in relation to reinfection of stocks derived from stem cuttings

The incidence of Phoma exigua var. foveata and Polyscytalum pustulans in dry soil and dust from potato stores was assessed at 10 farms in Scotland producing virus-tested stocks of seed potatoes derived from stem cuttings (VTSC). Samples were collected on three occasions during 1976: during the storage period (February-March), soon after the potatoes were planted (May) and just before the new crop was lifted and stored (August-October). Both pathogens were detected at all three sampling times but P. exigua var. foveata was more frequently detected at the last one than P. pustulans. Soil and dust from various sites within the stores, such as floors, ledges, graders and boxes, were contaminated by these pathogens. Propagules of both pathogens remained airborne for at least 12–17 min after the floors were swept. P. exigua var. foveata remained viable for at least 16 months in dry soil from tuber surfaces stored at 4–6°C. When VTSC tubers were dusted before planting with a dry store soil contaminated by P. exigua var. foveata the gangrene potential of the progeny tubers was much greater than that from untreated tubers or from tubers treated with an uncontaminated soil. The role of inoculum surviving in dry soil is discussed in relation to reinfection of VTSC stocks.     

The phenology of skin spot (Oospora pustulans Owen &Wakef.) and other fungal diseases of potato tubers

Underground stems and roots of the potato varieties King Edward and Majestic became more severely infected by Oospora pustulans (skin spot) as the growing season advanced. Tubers became infected at their initiation in June and July but the proportion of infected eyes usually increased during both the growth of the crop and bulk storage. Some buds on tubers in bulk stores died in December, but few were killed until after January, when attacks increased until by March about a quarter of Majestic eyes were usually dead. Boxing (chitting) not only prevented most eyes from dying but also prevented much skin spotting on tubers. At High Mowthorpe, Majestic seed unboxed or boxed in March yielded, respectively, 3 and 1 ton/acre less than seed boxed by January. Early boxing increased the yield of seed–sized tubers but did not affect the infection of progeny tubers. Dipping Majestic seed tubers in organo–mercurial fungicide and then boxing soon after lifting decreased their infection by O. pustulans; it also lessened infection on plants they produced and increased the yield of progeny seed–sized tubers. However, dipping, even in successive years, had little effect on the infection of progeny tubers by O. pustulans. Rhizoctonia solani and Helminihosporum atrovirens became increasingly prevalent on tubers during growth after July and during bulk storage. H. atrovirens was decreased by early boxing or dipping tubers in fungicide. Verticillate conidiophores often grew on incubated tuber plugs but their prevalence was affected by past storage. The results suggest that some of the benefit for chitting may be from disease control, it was not possible to measure the extent to which benefits from chitting depend on effects on disease or on the physiology of the tuber.     

Population dynamics of Erwinia carotovora subsp. atroseptica on the surface of intact and wounded seed potatoes during storage

Population dynamics of Erwinia carotovora subsp. atroseptica (Eca) on the tuber surface during storage (2–4°C) and pregermination, were studied by plating extracts of 6 mm² point samples on crystal violet pectate medium. To investigate the effect of harvest damage on Eca survival, intact, skinned (epidermis removed), and peeled (complete peel removed) tubers from a dry (pF 3.4) and from a wet (pF 2.0) soil were inoculated either immediately after harvesting or after air drying for 4 h. Eca numbers on intact tuber surface decreased rapidly after inoculation, whereas at the skinned and peeled surface numbers were significantly increased 2 d after harvest. Tubers peeled and inoculated with Eca were rotted by 2 d after harvest while tubers peeled and dried before inoculation did not rot; however, populations were significantly increased 2 d after harvest. For all treatments Eca numbers per point sample decreased to below detection limits 180 d after harvest. Examination of 600 mm² surface samples of the various treatments 222 d after harvest showed that Eca populations were still present. The number of tubers contaminated with colony-forming units (cfu) of Eca was significantly lower for intact surface inoculated tubers from dry soil than for those of the other treatments. Drying for 4 h before inoculation resulted in a significant reduction of the number of Eca cfu positive tubers compared to all other treatments. The ELISA OD values of the 600 mm² surface samples at day 222 were almost all positive and showed only a slight difference between the average of the tubers containing culturable Eca cells and those without culturable Eca cells.     

一株马铃薯干腐病拮抗菌的筛选、鉴定及其生物防效

【背景】马铃薯干腐病是一种由镰刀菌引起的田间和储藏期都普遍发生的病害,主要引起块茎腐烂,致使马铃薯品质和产量降低,严重影响其食用价值和经济价值。【目的】发掘有效的生防菌株以控制马铃薯干腐病,并探究其抑菌作用。【方法】从甘肃定西地区马铃薯根际土壤中分离到109株细菌,以硫色镰刀菌(Fusarium sulphureum)为靶标菌,采用平板对峙法筛选拮抗菌,并通过形态学、生理生化特征及16S r RNA基因序列分析对拮抗菌株进行鉴定。检测拮抗菌无菌发酵液对F.sulphureum菌丝生长、孢子萌发、马铃薯块茎损伤接种病斑直径、干腐病发病率及对绿豆种子发芽的影响。【结果】筛选到一株对马铃薯干腐病有较强抑制作用的菌株YL11,经鉴定其为假单胞菌属(Pseudomonas sp.)菌株。YL11菌株无菌发酵液对F.sulphureum菌丝生长、孢子萌发、马铃薯块茎病斑扩展、干腐病发病率、毒素活性均有显著抑制作用。20%无菌发酵液对F.sulphureum菌落生长的抑制率达到87.3%;75%无菌发酵液可完全抑制孢子萌发;无菌发酵液浸泡能有效抑制马铃薯干腐病病斑的扩展,14 d时对病斑扩展的抑制率达到67.1%;90 d后干腐病的发生率降低了68.4%;同时降低了F.sulphureum毒素的活性。【结论】拮抗菌株YL11能显著抑制F.sulphureum的生长,对马铃薯干腐病有较强的生物防治效果,具有潜在的应用价值。     

羊肚菌烂柄病发生对土壤真菌群落结构的影响

为了解羊肚菌(Morel)烂柄病的发生对土壤真菌群落结构的影响,采用Illumina MiSeq高通量测序技术,对健康羊肚菌根际土、烂柄病发病子实体根际土及相同环境下未栽培羊肚菌土壤的真菌群落结构进行研究。结果表明,测序样品共获得344 163条序列,归为7个真菌门。各样品真菌多样性分析结果表明,未栽培土壤真菌群落多样性较高,栽培羊肚菌根际土壤真菌多样性显著降低,烂柄病发生后土壤真菌多样性增加。群落结构分析表明,烂柄病根际优势真菌类群为拟青霉属(Paecilomyces)、木霉属(Trichoderma)、葡萄穗霉属(Stachybotrys)、枝顶孢属(Acremonium)、Paratritirachium、Zopfiella、被孢霉属(Mortierella)和柄孢壳属(Podospora)。烂柄病的发生改变了土壤真菌群落结构,促进了根际真菌的繁殖。为了解羊肚菌烂柄病的发生、传播机理及防治提供了参考。     

FIELD EXPERIMENTS ON POTATO SKIN-SPOT DISEASE CAUSED BY OOSPORA PUSTULANS OWEN & WAKEF

In experiments on skin-spot disease of potatoes, caused by Oospora pustulans Owen & Wakef., Kerr's Pink proved the most susceptible of twenty-four commercial varieties; Arran Banner, Majestic and King Edward were highly susceptible; Home Guard and Golden Wonder were highly resistant.
Thymol and tetrachlornitrobenzene, applied as dusts to pits of potatoes at lifting, did not give satisfactory control of the disease. The efficacy of an organo-mercury dip treatment at lifting time was confirmed.
The incidence of the disease was considerably decreased by storing tubers in boxes instead of in pits, by digging the crop about a month before normal harvest, or by cutting the haulms at this time and digging at the normal time.
Ware tubers showed a significantly higher infection than seed tubers of the same crop, indicating that susceptibility of tubers increases towards maturity.
The difference in eye infection between varieties may not be related to that of general superficial infection. It is suggested that, in future, the assessment of varietal susceptibility should be based upon the degree of eye infection, which is in practice the measure of the economic importance of the disease. Tubers having pustules at or near all the eyes gave markedly reduced sprout emergence and plant stand.     

The effect of time of planting inoculated tubers on the incidence of potato blackleg and gangrene

In a series of trials in the years of 1973-76 inclusive, chitted seed tubers of potato cvs Ulster Sceptre, Majestic and Pentland Crown were immersed immediately before planting, on three dates in each year, in water, suspensions of Erwinia carotovora var. atroseptica, Phoma exigua var. foveata or a mixture of both. The development of blackleg was greatest in cv. Ulster Sceptre and most rapid after late planting. Its final incidence was not closely related to date of planting except in cv. Pentland Crown which was least affected when planted late.
Combined inoculum of P. exigua var. foveata and E. carotovora var. atroseptica increased five-fold the number of plants that failed to emerge and often retarded early growth of the remainder. Failure to emerge was more frequent the earlier seed tubers were planted. Yield was affected most by blanking and blackleg in the Erwinia- inoculated plots and was also reduced by the pre-plant dip in a P. exigua var. foveata suspension, especially after early planting.
Seed dipped in the mixed suspensions yielded progeny that after wounding and cool storage developed a lower incidence of gangrene than progeny from seed dipped in P. exigua var. foveata alone. There was no evidence that planting time influenced the incidence of gangrene during storage.     

Screening of cassava (Manihot esculenta Crantz) accessions against Phytophthora palmivora induced tuber rot of cassava

Cassava (Manihot esculenta Crantz), is an important tropical tuber crop with global importance and plays a significant role in the food, nutritional and livelihood security of around 500 million people. In India, the low productivity of cassava attributes to the soil borne disease, particularly tuber rot caused by Phytophthora palmivora (Butl.) which is destructive and the attack is spreading in alarming rate in all the cassava growing regions causing heavy yield loss of more than 50%. Introduction of disease resistant varieties may alleviate the problem to a certain extent. This paper describes the screening procedures and findings on the disease resistant variety of cassava accession against tuber rot. Variety Sree Padmanabha imparted high resistance against tuber rot, while Sree Sahya was moderately resistant and all other accessions studied were found to be susceptible in in vitro and in field trials. In screening studies, a reproducible positive correlation was obtained between attached tubers in live plant with detached tubers which showed that detached tuber part can be used for the prediction of resistance in attached live plants of cassava for cultivar resistance. The procedure described here could be used as a simple, rapid and efficient method for screening of cassava accessions against tuber rot of cassava.     

Infection of potato tubers with soft rot bacteria

Stolons attached to developing potato tubers were inoculated with the soft rot bacterium Erwinia carotovora var. atroseptica. Almost all the stolons rotted, but soft rots developed in less than 10% of new tubers; the bacterium was isolated later from these tubers. No rots developed in the other tubers but the bacterium was later isolated from about half of them. It could not be isolated from tubers attached to inoculated stolons where the rot on them did not extend to the tuber or from tubers attached to stolons that were not inoculated though many of these rotted. The bacterium was reisolated from almost all arrested lesions in tubers inoculated 8 month earlier with E. carotovora var. atroseptica. Blackleg did not develop from plants grown fom these tubers under various soil conditions. It did develop in a large proportion of plants from tubers inoculated shortly before planting and grown in cool, wet soil. Less than 1% blackleg developed in plants grown from tubers from plants with blackleg or from plants immediately adjacent. The presence of pectolytic bacteria and E. caratovora var. atroseptica in seed and new tubers was investigated during June, July and August. Although E. caratovora var. atroseptica was obtained from c. 40% tubers, only c. 0·3% of c. 8400 plants developed blackleg. The bacterium was isolated from only three of 160 new tubers sampled during the summer.