VIEW ARTICLE

Ecology and Epidemiology

Predisposition of Bean Roots to Attack by the Pea Pathogen, Fusarium solani f. sp. pisi, Due to Temporary Oxygen Stress. D. E. Miller, Research soil scientist, Western Region, Agricultural Research, Science and Education Administration, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Irrigated Agriculture Research and Extension Center, Prosser, WA 99350; D. W. Burke(2), and J. M. Kraft(3). (2)(3)Research plant pathologists, Western Region, Agricultural Research, Science and Education Administration, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Irrigated Agriculture Research and Extension Center, Prosser, WA 99350. Phytopathology 70:1221-1224. Accepted for publication 9 June 1980. This article is in the public domain and not copyrightable. It may be freely reprinted with customary crediting of the source. The American Phytopathological Society, 1980. DOI: 10.1094/Phyto-70-1221.

Bean plants were grown in cells containing field soil naturally infested with either bean or pea root pathogens and in fumigated soil, with or without reinfestation with the pea pathogen Fusarium solani f. sp. pisi, or the bean pathogen, F. solani f. sp. phaseoli. With normal aeration, F. solani f. sp. pisi had a negligible effect on bean growth, whereas F. solani f. sp. phaseoli severely injured the plants. After a temporary imposition of low soil oxygen levels, however, the pea pathogen, alone or in combination with other fungi, injured the bean roots and permanently reduced water absorption and plant growth. This injury was less than that caused by F. solani f. sp. phaseoli under the same conditions.