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Etiology

Survival of Colletotrichum graminicola in Corn Kernels. H. L. Warren, Plant Pathologist, Agricultural Research Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Department of Botany and Plant Pathology, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN 47907; Phytopathology 67:160-162. Accepted for publication 20 September 1976. Copyright © 1977 The American Phytopathological Society, 3340 Pilot Knob Road, St. Paul, MN 55121. All rights reserved.. DOI: 10.1094/Phyto-67-160.

Colletotrichum graminicola, which causes anthracnose, survived on corn kernels at 4 C more than 3 yr. Viability of C. graminicola was stable on naturally infected kernels, but declined on artificially infected kernels during the 3-yr study. Fusarium moniliforme, Aspergillus flavus, and Penicillium spp. were isolated more frequently from C. graminicola-infected kernels after 24 mo in storage than after earlier sampling dates. The prevalence of C. graminicola varied from year to year. Infection of inbred kernels ranged from 0 to 9%, whereas infection of a sweet corn hybrid and an advanced breeding line reached 39 and 51%, respectively.