VIEW ARTICLE

Chemically Induced Root Injury Correlated With a Reduction of Fusarium Wilt of Tomato. W. L. Biehn, Assistant Plant Pathologist, Department of Plant Pathology and Botany, The Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station, New Haven 06504; A. E. Dimond, Chief, Department of Plant Pathology and Botany, The Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station, New Haven 06504. Phytopathology 63:655-656. DOI: 10.1094/Phyto-63-655.

Tomato plants showed less Fusarium wilt when compounds that injure roots were applied before root inoculation with Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. lycopersici. Tests of 272 compounds showed that the severity of Fusarium wilt and root injury were negatively correlated to a significant degree. Results from studies in which a split-root technique was used suggested that, with the exception of plant growth regulators, compounds which caused root injury or an inhibition of root elongation generally had a localized effect.