VIEW ARTICLE

Transmission of Helminthosporium maydis Race T by Infected Corn Seed. C. W. Boothroyd, Professor, Department of Plant Pathology, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York 14850; Phytopathology 61:747-748. DOI: 10.1094/Phyto-61-747.

Helminthosporium maydis Race T was recovered from 25% of corn seed of a 1969 remnant commercial lot. When this seed was planted in soil and maintained in a controlled environment chamber, H. maydis grew along with the seedlings and sporulated on the base of stems above the ground level. Leaves of healthy plants in the vicinity of diseased seedlings became blighted. Corn seedlings from the same infected seed lot planted in a garden plot some distance from any corn fields were also blighted by H. maydis. The data obtained indicate that H. maydis Race T is seed-borne, and that infected seed may be a factor in transmission of the fungus to healthy corn plants in the field.