Fungi Associated with Foot Rots on Winter Wheat in Northwest Italy

In a 3-year survey on bread and durum wheat grown in Northwest Italy, brown root rot was the most important disease of the basal part of culm. Year, wheat-growing area, cultivar and their interactions significantly influenced brown root rot incidence. The most important fungal species isolated from lower stems with browning were Microdochium nivale, Drechslera sorokiniana, Fusarium avenaceum, F. graminearum, and F. culmoniliforme, and Pythium spp. were frequently isolated. F., crookwellense was also isolated. Sharp eyespot was a frequent disease; take-all and eyespot occurred only occasionally.     

EFFECTS OF CULTURAL TREATMENTS ON WHEAT AND ON THE INCIDENCE OF EYESPOT, LODGING, TAKE-ALL AND WEEDS. Field Experiments 1945–8

An experiment was made on the fourth, fifth and sixth successive crops of winter wheat to determine the effects of various treatments on the troubles which result from close cereal cropping. Eyespot and lodging were prevalent in the first year (1946); weeds in the second; eyespot, lodging, take-all and weeds in the third.
Spraying with H₂SO₄ reduced the incidence of eyespot, lodging and weeds, and increased yield of grain on plots which received sulphate of ammonia (by 2.7, 2.2 and 10.0 cwt./acre in successive years).
Sulphate of ammonia increased the incidence at harvest of eyespot and lodging, reduced take-all and consistently increased yield of straw. Eyespot and lodging reduced the effect of the fertilizer on yield of grain, take-all increased it.
Increase in seed rate increased the incidence of severe eyespot and of take-all; it increased lodging except when plants were dwarfed by take-all.
Weight of straw and percentage straws with severe eyespot lesions independently affected lodging, together accounting for 51% of the variance in percentage area lodged at harvest and 64 % of that lodged 33 days earlier.
Mean yields of grain on untreated plots sown with 3.3 1/2 bushels seed/acre fell from 26.0 to 22.5 to 11.7 cwt./acre in successive years, whereas yields of 28.4, 29.9 and 29.1 cwt./acre were obtained on sprayed plots sown with 1 1/2.2 bushels seed/acre which received 4 cwt./acre sulphate of ammonia, showing that high yields were maintained when eyespot, lodging, take-all and weeds were controlled.
By 1948 yields of grain on unsprayed plots had fallen to the level of those on similarly manured plots on the continuous wheat experiment on Broadbalk field. Spraying increased grain by amounts similar to those resulting from one year's fallow on Broadbalk; but fallow had its greatest effects on plots with low nitrogen, spraying on those with high nitrogen.     

An experimental design and procedures for testing putative controls against naturally-occurring take-all in the field

In experiments during 1983–86 take-all was more severe and eyespot and sharp eyespot less frequent in 2nd-4th crops of winter wheat at Woburn (Beds.) than at Rothamsted (Herts.). Third crops had most take-all and yielded least grain. Against this background, small plots, 37 cm × 31 cm, in which all plants were sampled, were tried as a means of increasing experimental precision. They were arranged in fours in incomplete blocks and blocks with complementary treatments (putative controls of take-all) were paired. Thirty of these block-pairs were distributed throughout each experimental site in each year to provide one replicate of the design for each of three sampling times: April, June and August. Unattributed variation in disease and plant growth for plots within blocks was compared to that in other strata (block-pairs and blocks within block-pairs) of the experiment. The variability amongst block-pairs scattered throughout the site was nearly always greater than that for blocks within block-pairs (98% of take-all assessments, 71% of soil infectivity estimates, 94% of eyespot and sharp eyespot assessments and 86% of all plant measurements). The variability of blocks within block-pairs exceeded that of plots much less frequently (56% and 69% of take-all assessments, 33% and 25% of soil infectivity measurements, 63% and 56% of eyespot and sharp eyespot assessments and 50% and 63% of plant measurements; Rothamsted and Woburn, respectively). Small plots were judged mostly on this last comparison, where a variance ratio in excess of 1 indicated that the small plots had decreased variability and increased precision. Variance ratios for different assessments of take-all indicates that small plots: i) most consistently decreased disease variability during the years of maximum disease, ii) were slightly less effective at Rothamsted than at Woburn, and iii) were usually less effective in fourth crops than in previous crops. Soil infectivity was most uniform after crops with most disease and blocks were rarely more variable than plots. hxcept when disease was severe, soil infectivity in August tended to be positively associated with the yield of the crop just harvested. These findings reveal changes in the scale of disease patterns, both during the crop sequence and within individual crops, and suggest more than one scale of pattern in take-all-infested fields. This is discussed in relation to field experimentation and take-all decline.     

The effect of nematicides, applied to the seed rows in spring, on growth and yield of sugar beet in Docking-disorder-affected fields

Both Trichodorus spp. and Longidorus spp. damage roots of sugar-beet seedlings in sandy soil, causing Docking disorder. Trials in infested fields between 1969 and 1972 tested the effects of fumigation along the rows with different amounts of D-D or Telone applied either two weeks before sowing or immediately before sowing, application of the systemic nematicide aldicarb (Temik) in the furrow with the seed during sowing, and top-dressing with nitrogen. Seedling establishment was often decreased by fumigation immediately before sowing, especially when followed by excessive rainfall, but only rarely by earlier fumigation or by aldicarb; differences in numbers of roots harvested were smaller because hand-singling removed excess seedlings. There was usually little difference between the yield increases given by the most effective treatments, which were aldicarb at 1·12 kg active ingredient/ha and 2·2–6·6 ml D-D or Telone/m of row at either time of application. Nitrogen top-dressing never affected sugar yield significantly. Longidorus spp. and Trichodorus spp. were both controlled well in the fumigated row but much less well at 13 cm, and not at all at 25 cm from the row (i.e. mid-way between two treated rows).     

EFFECTS OF PREVIOUS WHEAT CROPS, SEED-RATE AND NITROGEN ON EYESPOT, TAKE-ALL, WEEDS AND YIELDS OF TWO VARIETIES OF WINTER WHEAT: FIELD EXPERIMENT 1954-56

In a replicated field experiment mean yields of wheat from plots that, in the preceding 2 years, had carried oats, beans or potatoes were 39.2 and 42.6 cwt. per acre in 1954 for Holdfast and Cappelle, respectively; 42.8 and 55.8 in 1955 and 34.9 and 49.6 in 1956. Previous wheat crops had more effect than any other treatment in increasing the incidence of eyespot, take-all and weeds and in decreasing the number of ears per unit area and the yield of grain. In 1956 on plots carrying the first, second and third successive wheat crops the percentages of straws with eyespot were respectively 12, 54 and 42 and with take-all 0.1, 1 and 16. Cappelle was less severely infected by eyespot than Holdfast. The second and third successive wheat crops yielded an average of 23.3 cwt./acre less than the first wheat crop. Cappelle consistently yielded more than Holdfast, the mean difference being 13.8 cwt./acre after potatoes but only 3.8 cwt./acre after two wheat crops. The higher seed-rate gave an average increase in grain yield of 3.3 cwt./acre; but where eyespot and take-all were both severe the lower seed-rate yielded as much total and more dressed grain than the higher. Wheat given a spring top dressing of 6 cwt./acre Nitro-Chalk yielded an average of 4 cwt./acre more grain than wheat given 3 cwt./acre.     

Effects of cultivar and fungicides on stem-base pathogens, determined by quantitative PCR, and on diseases and yield of wheat

The polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was used to identify and quantify all fungal pathogens of wheat (Triticum aestivum) stem bases in nine field experiments at three locations in England. The main aim was to apply quantitative PCR to provide robust data on the efficacy of new fungicides against the individual components of the stem‐base disease complex. Cyprodinil most effectively controlled eyespot by decreasing both pathogens, Tapesia yallundae and T. acuformis (the most widespread species), and sometimes contributed to increased yields. Prochloraz controlled eyespot less consistently, its effectiveness dependent mainly on the presence of T. yallundae or on rainfall events soon after application. Azoxystrobin contributed to yield increases most consistently. Although it decreased sharp eyespot and its pathogen, Rhizoctonia cerealis, these effects were insufficient to account for much of the yield increases. The effects of fungicides on eyespot were sometimes greatest on the most susceptible cultivars. Amounts of Tapesia DNA were usually consistent with cultivar susceptibility ratings. The only pathogens of brown foot rot present in significant amounts were Microdochium nivale vars nivale and majus. They appeared not to affect yield or to respond greatly to fungicides. The susceptibility of cultivars to these pathogens was sometimes similar to their susceptibility to eyespot, suggesting that they may respond to the same host resistance genes or may in some cases be secondary colonisers of eyespot‐infected plants.     

The effect of three or five years of set-aside on the husbandry and grain yield of subsequent cereal crops in the UK

During the period 1993–1997, at six contrasting sites located throughout England, two successive cereal test crops were grown both with and without nitrogen fertiliser after three or five years of set-aside or after continuous arable cropping. Vegetation during set-aside included natural regeneration and perennial rye-grass (Lolium perenne) with or without white clover (Trifolium repens), managed by mowing on one or more occasions per year. Establishment of the successive cereal test crops after destruction of the set-aside was generally not a problem. Fertile tiller numbers were increased by inclusion of clover in the set-aside cover or application of inorganic nitrogen. The presence of couch grass (Elytrigia repens) or volunteer cereals in the set-aside covers provided alternative hosts for take-all (Gaeumanomyces graminis) and eyespot (Pseudocercosporella herpotrichoides) and take-all caused some yield reductions in following cereal crops. Management during the set-aside period significantly affected grain yields of the subsequent cereal crops in the majority of the site-year combinations. However, these effects were not as large as would be expected after traditional break crops and were frequently masked by the application of nitrogen fertiliser. Mean yields increased by 80% due to the application nitrogen at the optimum rate compared to nil nitrogen. Most of the effects of set-aside treatment on grain yield were shown to be attributable to soil mineral nitrogen content, but at some sites, infections by take-all or eyespot also accounted for some of the variation. There were no effects of pests that could be related to treatment. The presence of sown clover during the set-aside period had the most consistent effect across sites, affecting tiller populations, grain yield and grain quality of cereal crops. At some sites, establishing a sown cover during the set-aside period, or cutting the cover more than once a year, improved grain yield and quality, and reduced the incidence of some specific weeds and disease. This revised version was published online in June 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Effects of soil fumigation on soil nitrogen and on disease incidence in winter wheat

Winter wheat was grown in soil fumigated with D-D, 85% dazomet dust or formalin, and top-dressed with o or 125 kg nitrogen/ha. Six weeks after fumigation, there was much more ammonium nitrogen in fumigated than in unfumigated soil. Nitrate was also more after fumigation with dazomet, but less after D-D and formalin. After 5 months, only D-D plots had less nitrate and more total mineral nitrogen than unfumigated plots. Take-all (Ophiobolus graminis) was less prevalent in the first crop after dazomet or formalin, but was more prevalent in the second crop than after other treatments. Eyespot (Cercosporella herpotrichoides) was decreased only by formalin and only in the first crop after applying it. Fumigation had little effect on the incidence of other diseases recorded or on grain yield, except that yields were light on D-D plots in the first crop after fumigation, when ears were severely deformed.     

The effects of soil sterilants on the cereal cyst-nematode (Heterodera avenae Woll.), take-all (Ophiobolus graminis Sacc.) and yields of spring wheat and barley

In a 3-year field experiment on sandy loam at Woburn, methyl bromide, chloropicrin, D-D mixture, dazomet, formalin and mercury salts were applied in the first year only, or in the first and second years, before drilling spring wheat. In the third year, their residual effects on spring barley were measured. All sterilants except mercury decreased cereal cyst-nematode ( Heterodera avenae ) numbers and take-all ( Ophiobolus graminis ) incidence, and increased crop yields in the year they were applied. Dazomet gave the best control of H. avenae in the first year and controlled O. graminis best in both years of application. In the third year, O. graminis increased in all plots previously treated (except after two successive D-D treatments), but H. avenae increased only after formalin. Two formalin applications more than trebled the H. avenae egg count by the end of the third year and depressed the yield of barley. Two successive applications of chloropicrin gave the best nematode control.
Other fungus diseases, Fusarium foot rot, Pythium root rot, eye-spot ( Cercosporella herpotrichoides Fron.) and sharp eye spot ( Rhizoctonia solani Kühn), were uncommon and sterilants had no detectable effects on them. The largest aggregate straw yield (3-year total) was obtained from two applications of dazomet, but the best yields after treatment in the first year only were given by D-D and methyl bromide.     

Surveys of diseases of winter wheat in England and Wales, 1976–1988

Samples from 300 – 400 randomly selected winter wheat crops were taken annually at growth stage 73 – 75 from 1976 to 1988 with the exception of 1983 and 1984. The number of samples from each region was proportional to the area of wheat grown in each region. The percentage of the area of the top two leaves affected by diseases, the severity of ear and stem base diseases and, in 6 years, the severity of take-all were recorded. Septoria tritici and Septoria nodorum were, on average, the most severe of the foliar diseases and eyespot (Pseudocercosporella herpotrichoides) was the most severe of the stem base diseases. Regional differences in levels of S. tritici, brown rust, sharp eyespot and nodal fusarium were significant. Cultivar resistance affected disease severity, and previous cropping patterns particularly affected take-all and eyespot. Eyespot and sharp eyespot were less severe in late- than in early-sown crops. The percentage of crops treated with a fungicidal spray increased from 14% in 1976 to over 90% between 1983 and 1985. Use of benzimidazole fungicides applied at growth stage 31 declined, while use of morpholines from flag leaf emergence onwards increased between 1985 and 1988.     

Fungal Communities and Disease Symptoms on Stem Bases of Wheat and Barley and Effects of Seed Treatments Containing Fluquinconazole and Prochloraz

Three successive crops of winter wheat or barley were grown as second, third and fourth cereals. Communities of fungi on shoot bases, identified after isolation on agar media, were more diverse (determined by number of taxa identified) on wheat than on barley, and their diversity increased from year to year. Diversity was not affected by seed treatments containing fluquinconazole or prochloraz. Eyespot (caused by Tapesia spp.) and brown foot rot (caused by Fusarium spp. or Microdochium nivale ) increased from year to year. Eyespot, brown foot rot (after the first year) and sharp eyespot (which remained infrequent), assessed in summer (June), affected wheat more than barley. Eyespot severity was increased slightly on barley by treatments containing fluquinconazole, formulated with or without prochloraz, in the second year (third cereal), when it was also decreased slightly on wheat by fluquinconazole plus prochloraz, except in plots where the treatment had been applied for two successive years. The increases or decreases in eyespot in the second year were accompanied by, respectively, decreases or increases in the frequency of Idriella bolleyi where fluquinconazole was applied alone. Although the eyespot pathogen Tapesia yallundae (but not Tapesia acuformis ) is sensitive to fluquinconazole in vitro , seed treatment, applied principally to control take-all disease, is likely to have only a small effect against eyespot (or other stem-base diseases), and then only on wheat and when formulated with prochloraz.     

Effects of crop debris and cultivations on the development of eyespot of wheat caused by Oculimacula spp.

Results from a series of crop sequence and single-year experiments that tested different straw and cultivation treatments in a total of 11 site–season combinations confirmed previous evidence that the development of eyespot disease in cereals can be decreased by debris in the seed bed even if that debris includes eyespot-infected stem bases, which are the principal sources of primary inoculum. Two of the experiments, which followed non-cereal break crops and tested the effects of crop debris applied after ploughing or tining on eyespot in winter wheat that was artificially inoculated with Oculimacula spp., provided convincing evidence that the effects can be attributed to the debris per se, and not to any associated husbandry practices. There were often larger effects on disease in summer than in spring or on severity than on incidence suggesting that the effects of debris cannot be explained solely by effects on inoculum or initial infection, and that debris has a disease-suppressive effect.     

Effects of D-D, Telone or dazomet applied to potato ridges in spring on potato cyst-nematode, Heterodera rostochiensis, in sandy loam and silt loam soils

Large amounts of dazomet (329, 439 kg/ha) applied to potato ridge soil in spring, before potatoes were planted, controlled potato cyst-nematode (Heterodera rostochiensis) in sandy loam and silt loam more effectively than large amounts of D-D (359, 448 kg/ha). In heavily infested sandy loam, 329 kg dazomet/ha or 857 kg methyl bromide/ha applied in spring 1969 or 439 kg dazomet/ha applied in autumn 1968, greatly decreased the number of larvae able to invade potato roots, so Majestic potatoes grew and yielded well without increasing the number of nematodes left in the soil after harvest. Large amounts of D-D or Telone applied to the topsoil in autumn or to the ridges in spring were less effective in controlling potato cyst-nematode or increasing potato yields. Applied in spring 1969 to silt loam ridges, 439 kg dazomet/ha had more effect than 448 kg D-D/ha on potato cyst-nematode and on the increase in yield of Majestic potato. The yield of Maris Piper potatoes (resistant to H. rostochiensis pathotype A) in infested silt loam was increased greatly by D-D, as much by 112 as by 224 or 448 kg/ha.     

The effects of soil fumigation and nitrogen fertilizers on nematodes and sugar beet in sandy soils

In fifteen experiments on light land infested with plant-parasitic nematodes, fumigating the soil during the previous winter with D-D increased the average yield of sugar-beet roots from 25 to 36 t/ha; this was more than that obtained with various forms of nitrogenous fertilizers used in amounts up to 250 kg N/ha. Application of 85 kg N/ha increased yields on fumigated plots by 7 t/ha, and there was little benefit from giving more. Fumigation killed 65 % of the Pratylenchus spp., 80% of the Trichodorus spp. and 90% of the Tylenchorhynchus spp. in the top 5 cm of the soil and, at 15–20 cm deep, 90, 93 and 95% of these three genera. The increased yield from fumigant at different sites was not correlated with the initial populations of nematodes. The average increase in yield from fumigation was only poorly correlated with rainfall during May. The increases in nematode populations between April and August depended on rainfall, and were 0positively correlated both with the accumulated rainfall for the 10 weeks before sampling the soil in August and with the rainfall during the week previous to sampling. Fumigation not only improved the health of roots, and so enabled them to use nitrogen more efficiently, but also increased the amount of available nitrogen in the soil and decreased the amount lost by leaching. Injected anhydrous ammonia did not affect the populations of nematodes.     

Relationships between take-all,soil conduciveness to the disease,populations of fluorescent pseudomonads and nitrogen fertilizers

Take-all of wheat, caused by Gaeumannomyces graminis var tritici (Ggt), is reduced by ammoniacal fertilizers as compared to nitrate sources. This influence of nitrogen on the disease is only observed on nodal roots at flowering. But soil conduciveness to take-all, as measured in a soil bioassay, is modified earlier. Forty days after nitrogen application at early tillering, the NH₄-treated soil became less conducive than the NO₃-treated one. When nitrogen applications are done at sowing and at tillering, differences in disease propagation between the two soils are enhanced. Results from four years of experimentation show that when the level of natural soil inoculum is high, disease severity is reduced by ammonium, showing an effect on the parasitic phase of Ggt. At a low level of natural inoculum the effect of the source of nitrogen is mainly observed on the percent of infected plants, indicating that the saprophytic and preparasitic phases are affected. Rhizospheric bacterial populations increase from sowing to tillering, but differences on take-all conduciveness after tillering are not correlated with differences in the amounts of aerobic bacteria or fluorescent pseudomonads isolated from soils treated with different sources of nitrogen. Qualitative changes in fluorescent Pseudomonas spp. populations, like in vitro antagonism, are more likely to explain differences in soil conduciveness to take-all than are quantitative changes in this group. Nevertheless, the introduction of Ggt in a cropped soil leads to a greater increase in fluorescent pseudomonads populations than in total aerobic bacteria.The delay between reducing soil conduciveness and reducing disease in the field with ammonium nitrogen fertilization, the qualitative change of fluorescent pseudomonads populations and the role of necroses in rhizobacteria multiplication, provide information leading to our representation of a dynamic model based on the differentiation of the wheat root system into seminal and nodal roots.     

蜡样芽孢杆菌B3-7在大田小麦根部的定殖动态及其对小麦纹枯病的防治效果

为了阐明蜡样芽孢杆菌B3-7在大田条件下的生态适应性以及对于小麦纹枯病的生防效果,通过利用绿色荧光蛋白编码基因gfp标记生防菌株B3-7,室内比较了GFP标记菌株和原始出发菌株在菌落形态、生长特性,生物薄膜产生以及在小麦根部定殖等方面的特性,结果发现GFP标记菌株和出发菌株在上述特性方面无明显差别。在此基础上,大田条件下测定了GFP标记菌株在小麦根部的定殖动态和对于小麦纹枯病的生防效果。结果发现,GFP标记菌株在小麦根部能够长期定殖,其存在量在小麦分蘖期最大,每克根重达到105CFU,拔节期后,该细菌数量一直维持在104CFU之上。同时发现,生防菌株能够有效降低小麦纹枯病的严重度和提高罹病小麦的产量。小麦分蘖期、孕穗期和灌浆期生防菌对于小麦纹枯病的防治效果分别达到60%、34%,34%,小麦成熟后产量提高13%—15%。结果表明,B3-7在大田条件下具有较好的生态适应性和防治小麦纹枯病的能力。     

Effects of shading and powdery mildew infection on senescence of the root cortex and coleoptile of wheat and barley seedlings,and implications for root- and foot-rot fungi

Summary Nuclear and cytoplasmic staining methods were used to study natural senescence of the root cortex and coleoptile of wheat and barley seedlings grown in glasshouse conditions. Coleoptiles of barley senesced more slowly than those of wheat, paralleling the known difference in rates of root cortex senescence in these cereals. The coleoptiles and root cortices of both cereals senesced more slowly in shaded than in unshaded conditions, but infection of the shoots of barley byErysiphe graminis had little effect on root cortex senescence. The results are discussed in relation to infection by root- and foot-rot fungi. Previous reports on the effects of illumination on take-all infection (Gaeumannomyces graminis) are explained. It is suggested that natural senescence of the coleoptile might affect establishment of infection by the eyespot fungus,Pseudocercosporella herpotrichoides, either directly or through the activities of competing microorganisms.     

Root, shoot tissues of Brassica juncea and Cereal secale promote potato health

Brassica species are increasingly being used as cover crops to suppress soil-borne diseases in potato cropping systems. Experiments were conducted in controlled environments and in the field to evaluate the effects of cover crop root or shoot or a combination of root and shoot tissues on potato root and tuber health. In a lab assay we examined the extent to which volatile compounds released from tissues of two cover crop species, rye (Cereale secale L.) and oriental mustard (Brassica juncea L.), could inhibit mycelium growth of two important potato diseases, Rhizoctonia solani and Pythium ultimum. Twenty-four hours into the lab assay, volatile compounds from all residues suppressed fungal growth. After 48 h, marked suppression of hyphal growth continued in the presence of mustard residues but not in the presence of rye tissues or the control without tissues. A 75 L volume container experiment evaluated the effect of incorporating different quantities of mustard shoot and root tissues (none, comparable to field level and fourfold field level) into R. solani and P. ultimum infested soil on potato growth, root health and tuber disease. In the container study, incorporating mustard shoots at the highest dose increased potato yield by 54% and reduced disease rating to 2.3 compared to a severe rating of 4.4 in the control. In the field trial, potato growth, root health and tuber disease levels were evaluated in plots where disease management involved either incorporation of mustard or rye cover crop roots, shoots and whole plants (roots plus shoots) or standard farmer practice of a fumigated fallow as a control. White root tissue was used as a health indicator, and averaged 58 and 78% in the fumigated control and mustard cover crop treatments, respectively. The highest healthy root tissue status (91%) was recorded where whole plants of mustard were incorporated. In contrast to the visual assessment of root and tuber health, tuber yield in the field was not influenced by cover crop treatment. Across experiments, the incorporation of or exposure to whole mustard plants was consistently effective at suppressing soil-borne fungi and promoting healthy roots and tubers, especially at higher rates of biomass. Mustard should be managed so as to maximize incorporated biomass for effective biofumigation. Multipurpose management requiring removal of mustard shoots is incompatible with promoting potato rhizosphere health.     

Interactions between fungicide, plant growth regulator, nitrogen fertiliser applications, foliar disease and yield of winter barley

Leaf size and foliar disease in winter barley increased with increasing total amounts of nitrogen applied to the crop: flag leaf areas increased at an average of 10% per 35 kg N ha^-1 Nitrogen top dressing applied in mid-March (G.S. 31) resulted in larger leaves, more foliar disease, more straw, delayed ear emergence, fewer grains ear^-1 and less grain yield than nitrogen applied in mid-April (G.S. 31). Application of chlormequat at G.S. 30 gave a variable response, but overall it increased fertile stems m-² and crop yield and decreased crop height but had no significant effect on straw yield. Fungicide treatments suppressed foliar disease and improved yield. Yield responses were greater when plant growth regulator and mid-March nitrogen had been applied at sites where more disease prevailed than with April-applied nitrogen. In one of the field experiments, on cv. Sonja, delaying the main nitrogen application until April, without fungicide treatment, gave a similar yield to that provided by nitrogen in March with two or three fungicide sprays.     

Comparison of natural and artificial epidemics of take-all in sequences of winter wheat crops

Winter wheat was grown for six successive years (Expt 1) and for three successive years (Expt 2) in field experiments on different soil types. Artificial inoculum of the take-all fungus (Gaeumannomyces graminis var. tritici cultured on autoclaved oat grains) was incorporated in the soil of some of the plots just before, or at, sowing of the first winter wheat crop. Expt 1 tested the incorporation of similar amounts of inoculum (212 kg ha^-1) at different depths. Expt 2 tested different amounts of inoculum at the same, shallow depth. Early sowing (September), late sowing (October) and spring inoculation were additional treatments, applied to the first crop only, in Expt 2. Seasonal factors apart, the disease outcome in the first year after inoculation depended on amounts and placement of applied inoculum, as well as date of sowing. Deeper inoculum resulted in less disease (Expt 1). Severe take-all was produced in Expt 2 by incorporating inoculum shallowly in sufficient quantities (400 kg ha^-1 or more). Less inoculum (200 kg ha^-1) generated less disease, especially in earlier-sown plots. Differences in disease amongst inoculum treatments were greatest in the first year and diminished subsequently, particularly where sowing had been early in the first year. In Expt 1, where first crops exposed to artificial inoculum developed moderate-to-severe disease, disease in subsequent second and/or third crops was less. In the fourth crop a second peak of disease occurred, coinciding with a first peak in sequences without added inoculum. Take-all decline (TAD) appeared to be expressed in all sequences thereafter. In Expt 2 in sequences without added inoculum, TAD occurred after a peak of disease in the second crop. Where 400 kg ha^-1 or more of inoculum were added, disease was severe in the first year and decreased progressively in successive years. Disease was less patchy in plots that received artificial inoculum. However, it remains uncertain mat severe disease caused by artificial inoculation achieved an early onset of true TAD. The infectivity of the top 12 cm of soil in the first 3 yr of Expt 1, determined by bioassay, depended on the depth of added inoculum and amount of disease in subsequent crops. However, at the time of the naturally occurring peak of disease severity (in either inoculated or non-inoculated plots) it did not predict either disease or TAD. Differences and similarities amongst epidemics developing naturally and those developing from different amounts and placement of applied inoculum have been revealed. The epidemiological implications of adding inoculum and the potential value of artificially-created epidemics of take-all in field trials are discussed.