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Predisposition to Diplodia Stalk Rot in Corn Affected by Three Helminthosporium Leaf Blights. J. M. Fajemisin, Former Graduate Student, Department of Plant Pathology, University of Illinois, Urbana 61801, Present address of senior author: Federal Department of Agricultural Research, Ibadan, Nigeria; A. L. Hooker, Professor of Plant Pathology and Genetics, Department of Plant Pathology, University of Illinois, Urbana 61801. Phytopathology 64:1496-1499. Accepted for publication 17 June 1974. DOI: 10.1094/Phyto-64-1496.

Twenty-nine corn inbreds expressed a differential reaction to Helminthosporium maydis races T and O, H. turcicum, and Diplodia zeae. Total plant and ear-leaf infection was positively and highly associated for each leaf blight. The association of these with lesion size was lower, but significant. Plants with severe infections of these leaf blights developed more stalk rot than plants with low infections. The blight reaction of the inbreds was more important than the type of leaf blight per se in determining the magnitude of stalk rot predisposition.