Wilt, blight, and stem necrosis were observed on Catharanthus roseus (L.) G. Don ‘Mediterranean Deep Rose’ (MDR) plants (Madagascar or rose periwinkle) in August 1999 at Burden Research Plantation in Baton Rouge, LA. MDR was the only prostrate-form cultivar and the only cultivar of 11 that was diseased. Twelve of twenty-four plants of cv. MDR were killed in the trial planting. White mycelia and small (1 mm diameter) light brown sclerotia were present at the base of infected plants. The suspect fungus was isolated consistently on acidified water agar and maintained on acidified potato dextrose agar (APDA). Pathogenicity tests were done by pipetting 1 ml of blended inoculum (contents of one 7-day-old plate culture grown on APDA in 100 ml of deionized water) at the base of nine 15-cm-tall Madagascar periwinkle plants. Inoculated and noninoculated plants were held in a dew chamber for 3 days at 28°C and placed in a greenhouse where temperatures ranged between 25 and 31°C. All inoculated plants showed wilt, blight, and basal stem rot after 3 days and were dead after 10 days. Noninoculated plants remained symptomless. The fungal pathogen was identified as Sclerotium rolfsii Sacc. and was reisolated from inoculated plants. The fungus was previously reported on Lochnera rosea (L.) Rchb. (=C. roseus) from Taiwan (1). This is the first report of the occurrence of S. rolfsii on Madagascar periwinkle in the United States.
Reference: (1) K. Goto. Trans. Nat. Hist. Soc. Formosa 23:37, 1933.
