VIEW ARTICLE

Evaluation of Resistance in Gladiolus sp. to Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. gladioli. Ronald K. Jones, Assistant Professor of Plant Pathology, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, N.C. 27607; J. Mitchell Jenkins, Jr., Emeritus Professor of Horticultural Science, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, N.C. 27607. Phytopathology 65:481-484. Accepted for publication 13 November 1974. DOI: 10.1094/Phyto-65-481.

Nineteen selections, nine commercial gladiolus cultivars, Gladiolus Hookerii, and G. gladanthera were evaluated for resistance to Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. gladioli by inoculating dormant corms. Gladiolus gladanthera, North Carolina selections 63-5-1 and 66-109-5, and cultivars Follies Bergere, Prince Bernhart, Fiat Lux, and Beverly Ann appeared resistant. Nineteen selections, eight cultivars, and G. Hookerii, evaluated for resistance in sterile sand in the greenhouse, varied from highly resistant to highly susceptible. All cultivars tested carried latent infections. Wounding or inoculating corms increased disease severity and decrased the number of apparently healthy new corms. Four different types of host responses were observed. Roots were the most susceptible plant part. Foliage symptoms were not always good indicators of disease severity. Two advanced selections from the breeding program showed a high level of resistance in all tests and appeared more resistant than any cultivar tested.