VIEW ARTICLE

Ecology and Epidemiology

Analysis of Progress Curves of Sugarcane Smut on Different Cultivars Using Functions of Double Sigmoid Pattern. L. Amorim, Depto. Fitopatologia, ESALQ-USP, Caixa Postal 9, 13400 Piracicaba, SP, Brazil; A. Bergamin Filho(2), and B. Hau(3). (2) Depto. Fitopatologia, ESALQ-USP, Caixa Postal 9, 13400 Piracicaba, SP, Brazil; (3)Biometrie und Populationsgenetik, Justus-Liebig Universität, 6300 Giessen, Germany. Phytopathology 83:933-936. Accepted for publication 19 April 1993. Copyright 1993 The American Phytopathological Society. DOI: 10.1094/Phyto-83-933.

The progress of smut on the sugarcane cultivars NA56-79, SP71-799, SP71-1406, SP71-6163, and SP70-1143 was quantified with artificial and natural inoculation during five consecutive years at Primeiro de Maio, Paraná, Brazil. The annual progress curves were fitted by the generalized monomolecular y(t) = p₁ {1 – exp[–(p₂ + p₃t + p₄t² + p₅t³)]} and the generalized Gompertz y(t) = p₁ exp{–exp[–(p₂ + p₃t + p₄t² + p₅t³)]} functions, in which the dependent variable y(t) was disease severity (whips per hectare) and the independent variable t was time (days after harvest). Estimates of the upper asymptote, the mean infection rate, the transition time between growth waves of the annual disease progress curve, and the latent period, based on the generalized Gompertz function, were utilized to compare cultivars. None of the time-related curve elements, i.e., the transition time between growth waves and latent period, differentiated the cultivars because the values were similar for all cultivars. Cultivars NA56-79 and SP71-799 showed the highest and lowest upper asymptote, respectively, differing statistically (P < 0.05) from the others.