Dry bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L. cv. Pintoba) plants showing typical anthracnose symptoms were observed in three commercial fields in North Dakota (Towner, Steele, and Pembina counties) in July 2001. Disease incidence in all fields ranged from 5 to 20%. The fungus was isolated from leaves and pods on potato dextrose agar and identified as Colletotrichum lindemuthianum (Sacc. & Magnus) Lams.-Scrib. (3). Pathogenicity and race identification were determined on a set of 12 standard differentials (2). Three isolates, one from each county, were grown for 7 days in Mathur's medium. Spores were suspended in water and Tween 80 (0.1% vol/vol) and adjusted to 106 spores per ml. Thirty 2-week-old seedlings of each differential were inoculated with each isolate on the adaxial side of the primary leaves using a Paasche airbrush. Inoculated plants were incubated in moist chambers for 5 days at 20°C under 14 h of fluorescent light and then moved back to the greenhouse. Disease reaction was assessed 3 days later. Isolates of C. lindemuthianum races 7 and 73 obtained from J. Kelly (Michigan State University) were used as positive controls. Inoculations were repeated once. All three North Dakota isolates and the positive control for race 73 produced sporulating lesions on the differentials ‘Michelite’, ‘Cornell 49242’, and ‘Mexico 222’. No lesions were observed in the other differentials. An unidentified anthracnose race retrieved from a single plant in 1982 constitutes the first report of the presence of anthracnose in North Dakota (4). In 1992, Michigan breeding materials infected with race 73 were planted in North Dakota (1); upon detection, the infected plants were destroyed and the fields quarantined. The epidemics observed in the 2001 season, developed in sites distant from the places where the Michigan materials were planted and have been associated with a single seed source. To our knowledge, the presence of anthracnose race 73 reported here constitutes the first report of anthracnose in commercial dry bean fields in North Dakota.
References: (1) J. D. Kelly et al. Plant Dis. 78:892, 1994. (2) M. A. Pastor-Corrales. Phytopathology 81:694, 1991. (3) B. C. Sutton, The Coelomycetes, CAB International, Wallingford, Oxon, UK, 1980. (4) J. R. Venette and P. A. Donald. Bean Improv. Coop. 26:24, 1983.
