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Wilt Development in Red Oak Seedlings: A New System for Studying Oak Wilt. P. Fenn, Research Assistant, Department of Plant Pathology, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin, 53706, Present address of the senior author: Department of Plant Pathology and Agricultural Entomology, University of Sydney, Sydney, N.S.W. Australia, 2006; R. D. Durbin(2), and J. E. Kuntz(3). (2)Professor and Research Leader, Agricultural Research Service, U. S. Department of Agriculture, Madison, Wisconsin, 53706; (3)Professor, Department of Plant Pathology, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin, 53706. Phytopathology 65:1381-1386. Accepted for publication 25 June 1975. DOI: 10.1094/Phyto-65-1381.

Young red oak seedlings developed foliar wilt, plugging of vessels by tyloses and gums and resistance to water movement when infected by Ceratocystis fagacearum. In addition, the host range, the slower average rate of symptom development in white oak seedlings, and the effects of temperature and inoculum dosage on disease development were all similar to those reported for woodland trees and older (1-3 year-old) seedlings. Young seedlings are readily adapted for study under controlled environments. Reproducible wilt development was obtained under standardized conditions (28-day-old seedlings, 10⁴ conidia per seedlings, 26 C). The technical advantages of seedlings, and the similarities between their disease development and that of woodland oaks, indicate that young seedlings are a valid model system for detailed studies of oak wilt.