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Etiology

Fusarium moniliforme as a Cause of Stem and Crown Rot of Asparagus and Its Association with Asparagus Decline. S. A. Johnston, Department of Plant Pathology, Rutgers-The State University of New Jersey, New Brunswick, NJ 08903, Present address of senior author: Rutgers Research & Development Center, Bridgeton, NJ 08302; J. K. Springer(2), and G. D. Lewis(3). (2)(3)Department of Plant Pathology, Rutgers-The State University of New Jersey, New Brunswick, NJ 08903. Phytopathology 69:778-780. Accepted for publication 16 February 1979. Copyright 1979 The American Phytopathological Society. DOI: 10.1094/Phyto-69-778.

In addition to Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. asparagi, F. moniliforme was isolated from asparagus plants taken from production fields. F. moniliforme was isolated from stem and crown lesions of 12-yr-old plants in a declining field and infrequently from lesions on roots, crowns, and stems of plants from a 2-yr-old planting. Total root system collapse resulted when seedlings were inoculated with F. moniliforme, and typical reddish lesions with accompanying vascular discoloration developed on roots of seedlings inoculated with F. oxysporum f. sp. asparagi, F. moniliforme caused more extensive crown rot and stem pith discoloration of asparagus plants in crown and stem pathogenicity tests than did F. oxysporum f. sp. asparagi. Based on isolation and pathogenicity studies, F. moniliforme is considered the pathogen of a separate disease of asparagus. Fusarium stem and crown rot is the proposed name for this disease. Both Fusarium stem and crown rot and Fusarium wilt and root rot caused by F. oxysporum f. sp. asparagi are associated with asparagus decline in New Jersey.