VIEW ARTICLE

Pythium myriotylum and Fusarium solani as Cofactors in a Pod-Rot Complex of Peanut. Z. R. Frank, Division of Plant Pathology, The Volcani Center, Agricultural Research Organization, Bet Dagan, Israel; Phytopathology 62:1331-1334. Accepted for publication 25 May 1972. DOI: 10.1094/Phyto-62-1331.

Pod rot of peanuts is caused by synergistic interaction of Pythium myriotylum with Fusarium solani. Unlike previously known pathogenic complexes of synergistic soil fungi, in the present case neither pathogen, when alone, is an effective pathogen of the involved host organ. Pythium is a latent endophyte of peanut pods; Fusarium, although frequently occurring in apparently healthy pods, rarely causes any symptoms. In previously sterilized soil, inoculation of pods with Fusarium followed by inoculation with Pythium yielded a significantly higher proportion of diseased pods than did inoculation in the reverse order. It is inferred that F. solani predisposed pods to pathogenic activity of P. myriotylumo In naturally infested soil to which additional inocula were added, Pythium caused a high proportion of slightly rotted pods, whereas Fusarium caused a small proportion of severely rotted pods. Hence, P. myriotylum may be the principal cause of rot, whereas the predisposing F. solani is involved also in the final disintegration of diseased pods.