VIEW ARTICLE

Common Antigens Among Varieties of Gossypium hirsutum and Isolates of Fusarium and Verticillium Species. R. Charudattan, Research Plant Pathologist, Department of Plant Pathology, University of California, Davis 95616, Present address of senior author: Plant Pathology Department, University of Florida, Gainesville 32601; J. E. DeVay, Professor, Department of Plant Pathology, University of California, Davis 95616. Phytopathology 62:230-234. Accepted for publication 7 September 1971. DOI: 10.1094/Phyto-62-230.

Preparations of antigens from four varieties of Gossypium hirsutum and isolates of Fusarium and Verticillium species were compared for common antigens. At least one antigenic substance was common among the varieties of cotton and isolates of Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. vasinfectum, F. solani f. sp. phaseoli, Verticillium albo-atrum, and V. nigrescens. Cotton varieties which were resistant or susceptible to Fusarium wilt as well as pathogenic and nonpathogenic isolates of F. oxysporum f. sp. vasinfectum shared the common antigen. The common antigen was not shared between F. moniliforme (nonpathogenic) and cotton. In gel-diffusion tests, five to eight precipitin bands were observed in the homologous reactions; of these, only one or two bands were common in heterologous reactions between the fungal and cotton preparations. The common antigenic determinant shared by cotton and the fungal isolates does not appear related to the severity of wilt symptoms, but it may affect host-pathogen compatibility during the process of root infection.