VIEW ARTICLE

Cytology and Histology

Histopathology of Strawberry Infected with Colletotrichum fragariae. R. D. Milholland, Professor, Department of Plant Pathology, North Carolina State University, Raleigh 27650; Phytopathology 72:1434-1439. Accepted for publication 12 April 1982. Copyright 1982 The American Phytopathological Society. DOI: 10.1094/Phyto-72-1434.

Strawberry cultivars resistant and susceptible to anthracnose were inoculated with Colletotrichum fragariae and examined histologically. The susceptible reaction on cultivar Surecrop was characterized by intercellular and extracellular growth of the fungus in the cortex and vascular tissue resulting in cellular collapse and necrosis. Sporulation was abundant 7 days after inoculation. Ingress into the crown from infected petioles was primarily through the vascular tissue after 14 days. In resistant cultivars, Apollo and Sequoia, the fungus was confined to a few cells beneath the infection site after 21 days. A thickening of the cell walls and deposition of pectic material in the intracellular spaces of the cortex as well as the accumulation of tannins in the surrounding parenchyma cells were associated with this restriction. Sporulation was absent 21 days after inoculation.