VIEW ARTICLE

Techniques

A Wind Tunnel for Controlled-Environment Studies of Ascospore Release by Venturia inaequalis. David M. Gadoury, Department of Plant Pathology, Cornell University, New York State Agricultural Experiment Station, Geneva 14456; Arne Stensvand(2), and Robert C. Seem(3). (2)Norwegian Crop Research Institute, Plant Protection Centre, N-1432 Ås, Norway; (3)Department of Plant Pathology, Cornell University, New York State Agricultural Experiment Station, Geneva 14456. Phytopathology 86:596-601. Accepted for publication 4 March 1996. Copyright 1996 The American Phytopathological Society. DOI: 10.1094/Phyto-86-596.

We designed and built a bench-top wind tunnel for the study of ascospore release by Venturia inaequalis in controlled environments. Compressed air was forced through a column of water to adjust relative humidity. Air then entered one end of a 102-mm-diameter tube at the rate of 20 liters/min, passed over a platform holding a leaf sample bearing pseudothecia of V. inaequalis, and exited the tunnel through a 2- × 10- mm orifice 20 cm downwind of the sample. Ascospores exiting the orifice impacted on a clear plastic tape borne on a clock cylinder that revolved once in 6, 12, or 24 h. Temperature of the leaf sample was monitored by a thermocouple imbedded in the sample platform and was recorded by a data-logger. Light was directed to the leaf sample through a fiber-optic bundle coupled to a 150-W quartz-halogen lamp. The quality and intensity of the light could be adjusted by colored or neutral density filters at the source. Simulated rain was applied to the leaf sample at the rate of 5.3 cm/h through a fine-spray nozzle located 50 cm above the sample. The temperature of the simulated rain, as well as a water jacket surrounding the tunnel, was controlled by passing the water supply through a controlled-temperature bath. The tunnel maintained temperatures as low as 1.0 ± 0.2ºC for 6 h, and could operate for up to 24 h continuously. Utility of the wind tunnel and reproducibility of obtained results was demonstrated using ascospores of V. inaequalis and Guignardia bidwellii.